All's Fair in Love and War
by MindSpring
Summary: Clone Captain Rex is legendary for keeping his head during the heat of battle. Caitlin Monroe is a typical Earth teen, enjoying a peaceful life. Their lives are both changed forever when he discovers her home planet, and the Clone Wars soon follow him.
1. Prolouge

~Caitlin~

As the elevator brought me closer to my execution, I sighed and dropped my chin onto my chest, letting my scraggly hair fall across my face, thus hiding it from view. The droids on either side of me paid no attention. I could see flecks of light whenever we passed a floor, and every time I wondered which one Natalie or Maureen was on. I knew we were all going to be killed. I just didn't know when.

In my mind, I replay each moment, from the very first time we met, to the seconds right before we were cornered. Even now, I felt a blush rising heatedly and in my mind I cursed myself, yet again, for doing that to him. To them all. I had brought the fall of the 501st Legion.

Finally, the quiet elevator came to a smooth halt, in the very belly of this massive ship. I felt as if I had let my entire planet down, and we had had so much potential for the Republic, and I had changed all that. I would always be remembered, if I was going to be remembered at all, as the girl who caused the downfall of Earth before it had even had a chance to prove itself.

Like a movie, I rewound the tapes and let it all play again, and again, savoring each sound, touch, feeling, and movement. The droid behind me shoved me out into the bright light of the docking station with his gun. I grimaced; but my back was so covered in bruises and cuts already one more wouldn't change anything.

As we clanked right to the center of the 'crowd', I realized I could see right past the hundreds of droids, past the reptilian monster that had, for a short time, been the entire system's hero. The blue shield that protected us from the vacuum of space was thin enough to see through, and I could watch as the destroyed star fleet ships gently floated against a backdrop of stars. A grisly scene, one I would die with.

A wheezing sound snapped me back to the present. The huge thing, called General Grievous, stepped forward towards me and unsheathed one blue lightsaber, that made me think of the Generals I knew on the other side of this battle, Anakin and Obi-Wan. So he was going to do this the old fashioned way, a public beheading. I met his cold, yellow eyes, and did not falter when he brought the blade to my neck. Hundreds of fake eyes were on me, a small cleaning droid waiting next to us to clean up the mess. I held myself tall and proud.

I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.


	2. Chapter One

**MINDSPRING- Okay, this has just been waiting to come out! An epic**_** Star Wars**_** story never told, with action, romance, adventure, betrayal, and more! (Can I just whine for a little bit here? You can skip this little part, if you could care less, but…: Writing the POV from a pissed-off, no-nonsense, no-feeling clone Captain from a super-advanced-army is REALLY, REALLY HARD! Okay. I'm finished.)**

**The time is now 22 BBY, between the time of Episode 2 and 3, during the Clone Wars. Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano are on their way to an unknown planet, where their troops under the command of Captain Rex have disappeared. Using the tracking signals on the clones' belts, they hope to find the 501****st**** Legion alive.**

**Meanwhile, near/down on the mysterious new planet…**

* * *

_-Captain Rex-_

I hate space fights.

When you lose a carrier, you lose two or three battalions of troops. And we just lost three carriers. An entire fleet, gone. Wasted.

This is why I much prefer ground battles. The tactics might be more difficult to carry out, yes, but usually the casualties are minimal. Dog fights in space leave no mercy for anyone, not even the injured. When a ship goes, everything and everyone on board goes as well.

Of course, it had been an ambush. Commander ordered a little-known smuggler's route to be taken to the _Revelation_, a small space station that served as a base for the Republic, near Ryloth. It had been built by Senator Ta, as a show of deep gratitude for rescuing his people when the planet had been taken over by Separatists. I still said that it was a mystery where he came by the money to build such a thing. I have my suspicions, but no one listens to a clone.

The Omega sector is a lifeless, barren part of the galaxy, out of reach and out of mind. Nothing was there, not even materials or resources. We would run into no Separatist fleets there.

Or so we thought.

Coming out of hyperspace, right next to the small asteroid belt that orbited the star, we were making smooth headway until LN-743619 noticed that three Separatist ships had pulled in on our bow, stern, and starboard sides. We were trapped between the asteroid belt and the three ships.

They began firing at us so quickly we had no hope of retaliating, because, of course, the first things they hit (and destroyed) were the guns. We did have the other two ships, but they were caught so of guard that they couldn't fire back in time. Or even bring their deflector shields up.

Luckily, Commander was so clear-headed that that was the very first thing he did when LN-743619 shouted the news. All of our shields were brought up to the three sides. However, it wouldn't last long, and they jammed our transmissions. They always seemed to do that. How annoying.

The other clones were working frantically, trying to make contact with another ship, any ship, to report our position before we were killed; trying to get the shields to last that much longer; and waiting for the Commander's orders. Another thing I dislike about space fights is that there are too many lives at stake, and too many lives in the way.

Commander observed the scene for a few seconds before he turned to me and said, "Get the men out of here."

"Sir, they will shoot at anything we launch!" Obviously.

He thought about that, and then turned to the pilot and said, "Try to get as close to that system there, so that when we launch the escape pods from the port side they will land. I will take a few fighters and try to battle our way out."

There were so many things wrong with this plan that I couldn't speak from astonishment. The longer I thought about it, the more glaringly stupid things appeared. Commander said, "Well, Captain? Give my orders and get to your pod!"

I sighed and put on my helmet. Orders were orders, after all. Through the comlink, I sent them out.

And not a moment to soon, for as soon as I did that, our shields failed. The smoke from the guns and the smells of burning metal, plus the screams of dying men proved to me that, no matter how idiotic and unlikely the orders were to get us out alive, we needed to get out now, and there was always that small chance someone would make it out alive.

The pilot, having already done his job, had just stood to flee when a falling transmitter, now useless, crashed on top of him. I felt an uncomfortable tugging in my stomach, as I always did when one of my brothers died in front of me. I murmured a quick Kamino prayer for the dead, and turned to see how many men had already evacuated. The deck was now almost empty, and I followed the last of the men and Commander out of the burning deck.

When we reached the pods, I gave Commander a final wish to succeed on his mission. We were now close enough to the small system, a blue and green one, that when we launched the pods the majority of them would enter the atmosphere and land safely.

A loud beeping sound filled the air as our droids warned the ship was collapsing, and would break apart in a few minutes. I climbed into the small pod with a few of the troopers I knew; Ash, Beta, Daro, and Nott. They were all under my command, and had actually been in my unit on Kamino.

It was silent as we launched, and we watched from the window as the small fleet of fighters, only five strong, and all different models, left the hanger and raced for the small gap between two of the Separatist ships. A fierce battle exploded in front of our eyes. The ships flew expertly in and out of the blaster fire from droid fighter. Three ships were destroyed from heat-seeking missiles; after trying to shake the missiles, it was of no use.

I gritted my teeth when I realized I should have stopped Commander from making this foolish move, and come up with a better, easily well-executed plan. We lost too many men, even for a dogfight. The casualties would be too many to count.

However talented a pilot is, one unlucky thing can cause his death.

The last two fighters were close to exiting the system when a flying piece of a fighter he had destroyed crashed into his starboard side. It wouldn't have been so horrible if the Separatist ship he was flying close to hadn't noticed the flames, and turned all of the blasters on all three frigates to the remaining two. By that time, however, the pod had rotated so much that we couldn't see the outcome.

I wasn't the only one outraged at this unlucky turn, but cursing it would do us no good. What we had to do now was concentrate on landing in a relatively safe place on this uninhabitable system, and figure out a way to contact anyone. Preferably a Republic ship.

I tried to see as much as I could of the other two carriers, and realized with sinking dread that they had been destroyed, and the remains sent into the asteroid belt.

We started to enter the atmosphere a few minutes later. It was silent in the pod, as all of the men could find no words to describe what had just happened. Other than a rather bumpy landing, and the metal exterior of the pod starting to melt from the heat of friction, it was a rather smooth ride, all things considered. The Separatists did notice the falling pods, but could only get two out of the six.

As we exited the pod, night was falling. We had crashed in a field of tall grasses, and after contacting other clones, realized that we had landed relatively close to them. As we regrouped and figured out who had survived, I looked up. In the starry night sky, I saw two things. The first being, the remnants of our frigates glowing brightly as they were swept away, high up in space; the second thing was that I was suddenly the highest-ranked clone.

"Alright, listen up! We need to scout out this area. This system may be in the Omega sector, but that doesn't mean something nasty isn't out there now. Chops, Lids! You two go!" They snapped a salute and shouldered their guns, turning to go.

But before they could even walk three paces, bright red blaster fire shot them both in the chest, and they were dead before they hit the ground. Surprised, but not frozen, I pulled out my own blasters and began firing in the direction they came from, while I ordered the men to take shelter behind the pods. Since it was so dark, we had to really on just the sounds to shoot at. We were fighting an invisible enemy, yet I would know that blaster sound anywhere.

"We're under attack!"

_

* * *

_

~Natalie~

I love that girl.

Seriously, Caitlin's, like, an angel to me. She totally rocks this world we call home!

Last night, on my way back from gymnastics practice, looking at my new messages, I found she had texted, like, seventy _gazillion_ times, all saying the exact same thing:

_Nat, u there? U hafta call me NOW!_

Now, normally when I get a bunch of texts like that, I usually string out the anticipated call, to make the other person even more excited or frantic. Call me mean, but usually it's totally hilarious. But, it was Kit-Kat, so I obliged.

As I got into my brand new silver 2009 Porsche, I selected '1' on my speed-dial and waited, picking at my hot pink nail polish. On the third ring, she picked up, and before I could even muster a 'Hello!' she was dropping this bombshell on me:

"Nat, you have a gymnastics meet this weekend, right? Because I think it's near my grandparents' ranch, out south by Tonganoxie. So I made a few calls to the right people, and we can stay there, with Mo, for the entire week! Isn't that awesome?"

I turned that over in my mind. Usually, I hate ranches, or farms, the country in general. I don't mesh well with old furniture, old cars, or old animals. However, if it was the ranch I think she was talking about…

"Is this the one with, like, a hundred bedrooms and a pool?"

Through the phone, I heard her long and exhausted sigh. "Yes, Nat, it is. So what do you say?" Her voice had risen high like it does when she's super-duper excited about something. I grinned and pumped my fist in the air, pretending that we were sitting next to each other. "Hell's yeah, chiqua!" I cried.

As I started to drive away from the dark gymnastics center, I asked, "Have you called Mo yet?"

"Nope. I think her parents would get a little upset if I called them at 10:45."

I grinned and laughed. Mo's parents are strict. Strict to the twentieth digit, or whatever it's called. Stricter than the strictest nun at our school. Mo can't leave the house before she writes a note explaining where, when, why, how, and who; she has to brush her teeth for a full two minutes; she MUST be in bed by 10:30; and (God forbid!) she cannot, repeat cannot, ever even bring up the subject of the opposite sex. Ever. And it's too bad, because Mo's probably the funniest person I know, but she reminds me of a trapped animal. "True dat," I replied. "Give me the details!"

"Alright, we need to leave by…" Kit-Kat gave me a whole list of things I must do for, like, an hour, at least. By the time I pulled into the driveway of my home, she was barely halfway done. Finally I yawned so majorly huge that there was no way she could give me any more information.

When she finally hung up, I walked up to my room and fell, face-first, onto my huge bed. I sunk in at least three inches before I rolled over and went over my routine for the big meet this weekend: Nationals Qualifications.

My stomach sized up when I thought how close I was to getting national recognition. I had been doing this sport since I had been able to walk. At first, I did it only because my parents wanted me to be good at something. Then, I really started to get into it, fascinated by how, with time and patience, the body can move so limberly and beautifully.

It seemed like the only something I would ever be good at, as time passed.

School came hard for me. Other sports, forget it. Acting, no way. Writing was a joke. Politics and religion made me upset. Boys, well, boys weren't really a problem at first. But after I got depressed in seventh grade, it seemed boys could get me up for a few days. They were like my own personal drug. I felt awful, but I couldn't stop. In the last semester of seventh grade, I was walking out of my seventh hour class, at 3:47, in Room 17, (nope, not on the seventh level), when I felt a tap on my shoulder. The teacher had been particularly harsh on me that day, I remember. I was totally about to burst into tears the entire hour.

Anyway, Caitlin and Mo were standing there, and when they asked what was wrong, I really did burst into tears.

An odd way for an everlasting, ah-mazing friendship to begin, but, hey. Better than most stories out there.

**

* * *

**

MINDSPRING- I'm thinking that usually, the chapters won't be this long (I hope). I just needed an establishing chapter, so it will all come together rather smoothly. Please review! It means so much to me, and I'll send you cookies! (Figuratively… but it's the thought that counts, I guess…)


	3. Chapter Two

**MINDSPRING- I forgot to thank my reviewers!**

**SomeOtherPerson- Thank you for being the story's first reviewer! The support is awesome- hope this chapter meets your expectations!**

**TheMacUnleashed- Okay, those compliments really meant so much to me! Thank you so, so much!**

**Sorry if the second part in the last chapter was sort of confusing. I'll try to clear it up by only using one POV per chapter from now on, so they can be more detailed and longer. And, don't forget—please review!**

_~Caitlin~_

We had been driving for two hours, and the sight of the big white ranch house was a relief. Not that I don't love Mo and Nat like sisters, I do; it's just that sometimes they act the part too well. They had insisted on playing Bon Jovi's 'You Give Love a Bad Name' over and over again, yelling the words at the top of their lungs. It got old really fast.

The day was perfect. Blue sky, big white puffy clouds, a little warm but with a perfect breeze to cool us off. I took a sip of my water and nearly choked on it when Nat slapped me on the back of my head. "You lied to me!" she cried, acting like a drama queen. "You said this was the one with, like, thirty-two bedrooms and a pool!"

"It does have a pool- that pond, right over there! Don't you see it?" That earned me another little slap. I laughed with Mo as Nat frowned and pouted.

The ranch house was completely visible from the road. A gravel road led up to it, and there was a barn and cattle area right behind it. A red metal fence surrounded the entire property. Fields bordered the cluster of buildings on all sides. As we neared, I realized it was eerily silent, even though it was the middle of the day.

At first, I thought that someone… well, I'm not really sure I knew what I was thinking at that point, because it was all too quickly overtaken by horror.

There were bodies strewn all over the lawn of the ranch house. _Bodies._ Human bodies, wearing some sort of white armor that covered the entire body, including their heads.

I stopped laughing. "Oh, my God…" Natalie breathed, making the sign of the cross. My stomach dropped, and I felt sick. It looked like a friggin' massacre. Slowly, I got out of the car and unlocked the gate. Instead of getting back in, I started to walk forward, towards them.

"Caitlin! What the crap are you doing?" Maureen hissed. I waved a hand, shushing her without taking my eyes off of the bodies. There were at least ten bodies that I could see, and they all had some sort of black mark on them. I felt nauseous as I realized that they had been shot. But by who? And when?

As I swept my eyes over the grisly scene, I faintly heard Mo drive the car up into the property, then cut off the engine. They both got out, and walked toward other bodies. Natalie stood there, staring, as Mo turned towards me, horrified.

Blast marks covered the sides of the barn and house closest to us, and as I looked farther, I saw huge pieces of metal strewn about. With a jolt I recognized them as the robots that escorted those two people into the White House a few days ago. A man named Count Dooku, and a woman named something-Ventress. Were they armed when they met the President? How could that have been allowed?

I closed my eyes and clutched at the gate as I saw that the ranch house had been the scene of a brutal, bloody attack.

I knelt down next to the closest one. He was different, because instead of all white, his armor had some blue markings on it. I reached out and touched the breastplate hesitantly and murmured, "I don't know who you were, but it seems unfair that you died like this." My fingers hovered delicately over the blast mark on the left side of his chest. In a moment of sheer hope, I bent over where his mouth would be and listened for breathing, and then picked up his arm and felt for a pulse on his wrist.

And, to my utter surprise, there was a faint one.

My eyes widened and my breath caught in my throat. "Natalie! Go in the house, get some water! _Now!_"

Without asking why, she turned and leapt up the stairs leading into the house.

"Caitlin! What happened? What's going on?" Mo called, running to me. I looked up at her and said quietly, "He's still alive." I heard the shock in my voice, and continued, "See if anyone else is still… _here_."

She nodded and hurried away, kneeling next to the next closest one and checking for a sign, _any_ sign, that someone else had survived.

I took a breath. _This is crazy,_ I thought. _We don't even know these people. He could be a dangerous psychopath, and as soon as I let him know I'm here he'll kill me._

I leaned over him, settling in a much more comfortable position. "Can you hear me, sir? Listen to me, you're all right, we can take care of you. Are you there?"

A weak groan. He turned his head to the side and clenched his fists. He was in pain. I looked at the wound again and noticed it went through to his skin. It wasn't bloody, that was the strange thing. It was black, like it had been burned. He was coming around, that was for sure. I heard Natalie running towards me, and I looked up as she handed me the water.

"Thanks. Go around and check if anyone else is alive, like Maureen. Just see if they're breathing, or if there is a pulse." She nodded, her skin pale. I could tell she felt sick by the sight of injured, or dead men just lying here, scattered.

"Ahh… We were attacked… Ambushed…" I looked, startled, down at him again. His voice was deep, and to my intense surprise, he sounded Australian, although I knew he wasn't. I knew he and his fellow men weren't from Earth. Their armor was too advanced, and his gun was sleek, a much more complex weapon than anything I had ever seen.

His breathing was fast and shallow. I said softly, "Sir? I can't help you until you take your helmet off. Can you do that?" When he didn't do anything, I realized that I wanted him to make it. I wanted him to live. I repeated it, with more force.

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, he reached up and unlatched his helmet. I wiped the sweat from my forehead. It was nearly noon, the hottest part of the day. I couldn't even begin to imagine how hot he must be. I took the helmet from him as it came off, and his hands clenched into fists again. I placed the helmet next to me and stared at his face.

He was tan, with bright blonde hair, cropped close to his scalp in a buzz cut. He had a square jaw, and several scars were healing on his face. His eyes were squeezed shut. I smiled from relief. So far, so good.

His eyes opened. I bit my lip, for he had an intense stare, and his eyes were the color of amber. Sweat was beading all along his face. After a few seconds of staring, his eyes closed again and he murmured, "Water…"

I quickly helped him sit up, and leaned him against the fence. I handed him the cool glass and watched as he drank it in big, thirsty gulps. As he drained it, I looked up at the others. Maureen was hovering over a man as she clutched his hand, speaking to him. She looked about ready to cry. Natalie was kneeling next to another man as he came around. I could hear his small cries of pain as she tried to calm him. She looked up and tried to smile at me, but only succeeded in grimacing.

I stood and ran to my Jeep. Opening the trunk, I pulled out a portable chair and brought it over to the one who I had been taking care of. While he looked on, confused, I opened it and set it next to him. Crouching by his side, I put my arm around his waist to support him. He settled into the chair stiffly and looked at me. I said quietly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's just a little… ah, little wound. Nothing serious." His voice was getting stronger, but he grimaced when he felt his injury. He looked up, saw his fellow troops, and tried to stand. Even though my heart went out to him, I put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Sir, you're not strong enough yet. I'll go get some more water. Stay there."

I ran into the house and grabbed three water bottles, than ran back outside to his side. I cracked one open and handed it to him, before going to Natalie and Maureen and giving them the other two. Maureen thanked me and said, pointing, "Those three are dead, for sure. No pulse, not breathing. And Natalie found one dead. So far, though, every other one is alive, but unconscious." Her voice was shaking, and she looked about ready to cry.

I nodded and said, "Keep checking. How about we cross their arms over their chest? Whoever's dead, I mean. So we know who is gone and who isn't?" Instead of answering, she bent down and gently placed two hands over a still chest. Her shoulders bent with silent sobs.

I ran back over to the blond man, who was now watching Nat and Mo check his men for survivors.

"What happened?" I asked softly.

"We were ambushed by a small droid infantry. Where are they?" Droid infantry? I turned and looked at the pieces of robots, and realized that they had killed all of the 'droids'. Well, if you could kill a robot.

"Destroyed. Over there." I pointed the remains out to him. He nodded, satisfied. But his face was quickly overshadowed with some deep emotion as he saw the white bodies.

"How many men did we lose?"

"I… I don't know. At least four. I'm so sorry, sir."

"That's war." His tone struck me as dangerous one to stay on, so I changed the topic.

"Do you need a place to rest? For a while, I mean." _That_ didn't sound odd at all.

Apparently, he didn't hear it. "My men and I can stay out here. We've been through worse." He still wasn't watching me, and I smiled grimly.

"You think I'm going to let wounded soldiers stay outside in this awful weather? Yeah, right. I'm sure we can find room for everyone in the house." I gestured to the house as he looked up in surprise.

He paused for a few seconds before answering curtly, "It wouldn't be right."

I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows. "Sir, no matter what you say I'm still going to take care of you and your men. And, that includes room and board. You forget, I'm not the injured one." I smiled, and he tentatively gave a little one back.


	4. Chapter Three

_-Obi-Wan-_

"Naboo? What were you doing on Naboo?" Standing on the control deck of the _Revelation_, I was curious why Anakin and his troops were separated. I had a strong feeling he was doing something he shouldn't have been doing, but it was Anakin. There was no stopping him.

Anakin's hologram shrugged and said, "I had some business to take care of, Master."

I raised my eyebrows and looked at his Padawan, Ahsoka. "Were you with him?"

She smiled brightly, a little too brightly, and said, "Of course, Master. We had to stop there to get some new parts for the ship after we were nearly killed getting-"

I waved my hand tiredly. "Never mind, I don't want to know. There are more pressing matters to deal with, Anakin. Your troops haven't arrived at the _Revelation_ yet."

Anakin's smile was replaced with a deep frown. "That's impossible. Captain Rex signaled me that they were nearly there just a few hours ago."

"I've said it before, many times. Your Captain is about as good as following orders as you are."

"Master, this isn't the time for jokes."

"Calm down, Anakin. All clones have tracking units on their belts; we just have to find their signal. Where did that signal come from, when Rex contacted you?"

Ahsoka's hologram was already pressing the buttons to find out. She frowned, confused. "They Omega sector. What were they doing there?"

I rubbed my chin and said slowly, "Well, I believe that there is a smugglers' route through that sector. A short cut to Ryloth. And besides, not much is out there. They wouldn't have run into any trouble."

Ahsoka asked hesitantly, "What if they did?"

I looked at her and said, "I can't imagine why. The next closest Separatist outpost is no where near there."

She frowned. "This just doesn't make sense…"

Anakin interjected, "Master, something is wrong. I can't even find their signal." He looked at Ahsoka, then back to me. "Foul play."

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Try doubling the strength of the signal to the Omega sector. They could still be there."

Something was definitely out of place, that was for sure. Commander Cody stepped forward from where he had been observing and said, "General, this system has been pretty quiet for the last few weeks. I'm sure another unit would be able to take our place, if we should go to find General Skywalker's men."

"I was thinking along those lines, as well. We shall have to wait for permission from the Council, however."

He nodded and stepped back again as Anakin said, a little startled, "You were right!"

I shrugged. "I usually am."

He ignored me and continued. "It's a very, very faint signal, but they're still there, that's for sure. What should we do?"

I folded my arms and said, "Has your system been fairly peaceful for a month or so?"

Anakin opened his mouth to answer, but Ahsoka jumped in for him. "Peaceful? Nothing has happened for at least two! It is so… _boring._" She shrunk underneath the glare from her Master.

I smiled, remembering that Anakin had been like that when he was my Padawan. "Don't punish her, Anakin. That's good news for all of us. I shall ask permission if we can leave our systems to another unit, and then contact you again with the results." I bowed, showing that we were done.

Ahsoka gave a deep bow out of respect, while Anakin gave a shallow one. The holograms flickered off, and I tapped in the coordinates of the Jedi Council on Coruscant. To my surprise, instead of Master Yoda, Master Ti appeared with Master Windu. I bowed to each before Master Windu began to speak.

"Obi-Wan, I trust that all is peaceful in the Ryloth system?"

"Yes, Master. The Twi'leks have proved an invaluable aide to our cause."

Master Ti said, "Than what is the cause for this, Obi-Wan?"

"Anakin's troops have not arrived at this station, Masters."

They looked at each other before Master Ti said slowly, "And why not?"

"We do not know why, neither does he."

Master Windu's voice seemed razor sharp as he asked, "Why was Skywalker not with his troops?"

"I do not know the answer to that, either. He told me he had to fix his ship because it had been heavily damaged in an assault, so he stopped in the Naboo system to make repairs."

Master Ti said, "You want to go with Skywalker and his Padawan to search for his missing troops?"

I bowed deeply. I had always respected her, she was as tuned into the Force as Master Yoda and almost as brilliant with a lightsaber. "Yes, Master. Anakin reported his Captain last signaled them from the Omega sector, and when he tracked the clones, that was where they appeared."

Master Windu said, "I do not like how Skywalker is flinging his troops around without a leader. You must restrain him, Obi-Wan, before it gets too out of hand."

Master Ti said softly, "Obi-Wan, you realize how much the clones help us. Even though they may not think so, they are all invaluable. We need them more than they realize."

She looked to Master Windu, who nodded and said, "Shaak Ti speaks the truth. Go to the Omega system with Skywalker and Tano and find those troops. We will send a few more units to your systems, but we need to keep this quiet. The last think we need is for a Separatist attack on either system now, seeing how stretched out we are."

I bowed, saying, "Thank you, Masters."

They flickered off the holoprojector. I turned to Commander Cody and said, "Get your troops ready to go to the Omega Sector."

He snapped a salute. "Yes, sir!" He turned sharply and walked away, barking orders into his comlink.

I waited until he was away to contacted Anakin and Ahsoka. "We're all clear," I said. "Get ready to leave when your replacements get there."

Anakin smiled triumphantly and Ahsoka said quietly, "I hope that they're okay. I mean, who knows what's out there?"

"From my guess, not much."

"Besides, Snips, Rex can handle it. He's been through far worse."

She rolled her eyes and murmured, "And it's usually your fault."

Just as he was about to retort, I laughed and said, "And, Anakin-"

"Wait, let me guess. The Council is wondering why I sent them off alone, even though I was ordered to go to the _Revelation_ with them."

"Good guess. And, quite frankly, I'm curious as well." I folded my arms and raised my eyebrows.

Anakin smiled widely and said, "I'll have to tell you another time, because now we have to go get ready."

As their images flickered off, I rolled my eyes and wondered how boring, yet sane my life would be if not for those two.


	5. Chapter Four

**MINDSPRING- I am such a nerd. **

**Honestly, I think I spent at least four hours on the **_**Star Wars**_** wikia, cleverly named Wookiepedia. But it so COOL!! There are so many different **_**things**_** to read about…!**

**George Lucas is, I swear, a genius. **

**Anyway, back to the story. Last chapter was from Obi-Wan's POV, and he was, as usual, concerned about Anakin and his leadership skills. We discovered that Anakin was, for some reason, separated from his troops, and his troops did not arrive at the **_**Revelation.**_

**Nice goin', Ani.**

**Please, please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE review! I want to know what you guys are thinking of this!!!!**

**Chapter Four  
**_~Maureen~_

I stood in front of the living room, looking at all the unconscious men lying on couches, sofas, chairs, and an inflatable mattress. Six men were in this in this one cramped room, and the other four were upstairs, on the beds in the guest, kid (two beds in this room), and master bedrooms.

Natalie's crazy idea had worked.

The only man conscious had collapsed onto the ground after only a few minutes awake. He was the only one who had woken up, and so by extension, the only one whose face we could see. He was handsome, in a rugged, no-nonsense way. While Caitlin started to freak out, Natalie quickly ran into the ranch house to see how many people could sleep in the house comfortably. She's pretty quick-thinking and clever like that.

But, the only hitches in that plan were that: we would have to move ten critically injured men into a house that was built a few feet up from the ground connected by concrete stairs; we had to do it in the heat of the day (mid-and-upper 90s today); and we would have to carry four up the twisting, narrow stairs to the bedrooms.

And, being army men (as they no doubt were), they were pretty…_heavyset_.

My arms were throbbing and weak. But we had done it. And I felt great, along with exhausted, sore, and gross. I turned to Nat and Kit-Kat and smiled, "Wow, I can't believe we actually fit everyone in here."

Nat frowned and crossed her arms, "Maybe so, but not nearly enough room for us and our luggage." Being the material girl that she is, she brought three huge suitcases. When I asked her what they were for, she replied 'clothes, makeup, gymnastics stiff, and shoes.'

Oh, boy.

"That's fine by me." I said, wiping sweat off my forehead.

"Me, too. We can camp out in the backyard." Kit-Kat gestured out the window at the large lawn. It was nearly night, and her face was in shadows, but I could tell she was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Alright, I'll grab the tents." I started walking to the garage, where I knew the tent was. Before we had met Natalie, since about the fourth grade, Caitlin and I had gone camping here several times.

"We just can't let that one with blue know. He'd get angry." She pointed at him, sleeping on the couch. He was frowning, even in sleep. I felt a twinge of pity for him, being in a strange land that could not help him.

"Wouldn't want that." Nat's sarcastic reply broke into the conversation, letting us know how she felt about sleeping in a tent. She was already somewhat pissed that Kit-Kat had lied to her about the ranch house. She had confided that in me while we were getting water, and I knew she wasn't kidding.

Kit-Kat smiled hesitantly and said, "I'm sorry, Natalie. I knew you were excited about having the weekend just to ourselves, but… I didn't really plan on this." I looked at Natalie.

She crossed her arms and looked away. "I know I'm being annoying, and I'm sorry. I wanted it to be just us. And no freaky men from outerspace." She gestured with a wide swoop, and then her shoulders fell and her face crumpled. I bit my lip and hugged her.

"It's okay, Nat. It'll still be us; only we have to make do with tents instead of a house."

Kit-Kat nodded in earnest, and I felt bad for her. She had wanted this to go really well, but it looks like fate wasn't really going to let that happen. Suddenly, I felt exhausted. It was nearly eight, I was starving, and we still had to set up the tent. Plus, I had helped drag ten heavy men up several stairs, heave them onto beds, and put the dead men in the field, where we were going to bury them tomorrow.

We stood in silence for a few minutes, and then I sighed and said, "Well, we had better get the tent set up and get dinner ready. You," I tickled Natalie on the stomach until she was forced to let out a laugh, "have a big day in two days!"

Her face brightened and she squealed, "OMG, I do!" I shushed her and looked pointedly at the men. She rolled her eyes and gave them the finger. I put a hand over my mouth and laughed, while Kit-Kat sighed dramatically and tugged on our hands to go outside.

Besides the spaceships plowed into the grass and the blast marks on the buildings, you really couldn't tell what had happened.

I grabbed the tent from the garage and handed another one to Caitlin. We trudged to a spot directly behind the house, where we would be invisible from the road, and set up camp. Well, Kit-Kat and I did; Natalie went to go get us food.

By the time she had returned, an hour had passed, we had set up the tents, the sleeping bags, and had unpacked the luggage. I was twiddling my thumbs, bored, and Caitlin was reading the newspaper, whose headlines blared '_**A TREATY HAS BEEN REACHED!' LEADERS OF THE U.N. HAVE MET WITH COUNT DOOKU AND AGREED TO PEACE!**_ A sub-headline mentioned that it had happened after several weeks of secret negotiations.

Somehow, I knew that that news was really bad for the men we had in the house.

I looked up when I heard the crunch of gravel. I poked Kit-Kat's head and we both ran over to the Jeep, where Natalie was busy unloading several bags from the local market.

"What took you so long?" I said impatiently, crossing my arms and giving her my meanest look.

She merely smiled at me and continued to unloading, handing me some bags. I looked in them and said, "What do we need all this food for? We're only here for a week!"

She shrugged and handed Kit-Kat some bags. She was already over their mini-spat. I rolled my eyes and waited for her response. She pulled at a strand of her hair and looked at me, "I just thought, since the dudes are apparently going to stay here a while, we should get them some food."

I smiled and so did Kit-Kat. We walked up to the house and began putting the food away as quietly as we could.

Later that night, I was staring up at the 'ceiling', listening to the bugs and wondering what that headline _really _meant, for all of us.


	6. Chapter Five

**MINDSPRING- Whoever you are, Star Wars/Earth Fan, I am sending you trillions of virtual cookies and flowers. Thank you so much for that AWESOME review!!!! I keep coming back to it to read it, slightly giddy. I am still sooooo happy about what you said. It made my day. More like my week, actually! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you to the millionth power!!!!**

***shrieks and faints about a million times***

**Anyway, a few side notes first:**

**I know this might be a little OOC for Captain Rex, but hey, it's my story.**

**I have no idea how old Rex is, but I'm making him a little younger than he probably is.**

**Enjoy, and as always for ANY story- please please review! :D**

_-Captain Rex-_

My pounding head and searing dry throat woke me. It was early in the morning, according to my watch. At first, I thought it was from a late-night training exercise, but then I remembered everything. The ambush, this new system, and then another ambush. It always happens to me, the bad things always do.

I sat up slowly, and winced when the blood returned to the slight wound. It really wasn't that bad; I had seen and survived far worse. Taking in my surroundings, I noticed with slight disdain how primitive everything seemed to me. Everything was simple; the furniture, the decorations, even the flooring, windows and walls.

As I slowly became more alert, I could remember more and more details. _Three_ _Human females appear to have rescued us: one with dark hair and dark skin, another with dark hair and pale skin, and the last one had bright hair and pale skin, like General Kenobi. All three are very young, in their mid-to-late teens. And they seem very ignorant of the situation that brought us here. They appear to speak Basic. And_, I thought, touching the table in front of me, _they seemed to have carried all of us inside this house. _Although I didn't want to admit it, it was pretty impressive.

I was seated on a couch, and surrounded by the men who had survived both attacks. Six in all, including myself, in this one room. And all still had their helmets on. They were on chairs, sofas, and a large mattress on the ground, not unlike our army-grade mattresses. The room we were in was dark, and I could barely make out any other details. However, a thin stream of light was coming from the doorway that could only lead to the other rooms of this house. And I could hear a slight noise, of someone walking around, and opening and closing something.

I stood and cringed when the material of the couch groaned loudly. I waited until the noise had stopped, and walked quietly over to the edge of the wall. Peering around the corner, I saw that it was the same girl who I had woken up to, the one with pale skin and dark hair. She had her back to me, and was facing the counters and windows. Her hair was spilling over her shoulders, reaching the middle of her back. She seemed to be wearing a sleeping outfit, although it was like none I had ever seen. And she was wearing tall boots that reached her knees.

I walked into the small hallway that connected the two rooms. I looked around, and saw that on my left a narrow staircase lead to the upstairs, and on my right was small bathroom. I faced forward again and saw that she had turned around and noticed me. She was clutching a water glass in her hand and watching me with wide eyes.

I stepped into the light that was coming from the kitchen, as I now knew it was, and said quietly, "I am sorry; I did not mean to scare you."

She nodded and said, "That's alright. I take it you are more than a little thirsty?" Without waiting for an answer, she opened a cabinet and pulled out another glass, and then filled it with water. She handed it to me, and I took it, although I couldn't care less about the water now.

"Yes, thank-" We both started when a sudden noise from above echoed in the house. I put a hand on my gun, which was still attached to the holster, and stepped in front of her, to protect her. It was, after all, my duty to protect the innocent.

She put a hand on mine, and when I looked at her, said, "It's probably just one of your men. We put some upstairs," she added hastily, catching my expression. I looked up again, frowning. "How did you manage that?"

She grinned shyly, and said, "We probably should go outside, because I have a few questions for you as well."

I was struck by her attitude, how calmly she was taking all of this. I followed her through the dark rooms until we went through a door and onto a small patio, overlooking all of the land. It overhung the garage, and was made of all wood. A bench ran along the far edge, and that was where we sat.

And then, all of a sudden, I was stricken. By her.

While she answered my question, I stared at her, trying to take her all in with just my eyes. Although, of course I knew it would never be enough. Pale ivory skin. A delicate heart-shaped face, huge dark blue eyes, full pale pink lips, long eyelashes, and waves of thick brown hair framing her face. Without meaning to, I began to see my hands moving in that hair, caressing that neck…

We were alone, I realized. All the men were either in the house asleep or dead, as awful as that sounds. I remembered what I thought of when I saw that face, biting her lower lip, full of concern and worry for me, a complete stranger dressed in outlandish attire with a gun and surrounded by destroyed droids. I thought I had been rescued, somehow, by the mythical beauties of the moons of Iego, the Angels. Or that I had died.

She must have realized that we were alone as well, because she pulled her legs underneath her, a small sign she was uncomfortable. I still didn't know her name. When I asked, she blushed, and I grinned a little.

"Caitlin. My name is Caitlin." She whispered softly, making my stomach drop. At once, I realized the power that this young woman had over me. Without meaning to, and indeed without permission, I had actually… what was it, I had read something on it when I was still in training… I had actually begun to like this Caitlin, like her beyond any reason and logic. Everytime she moved, I committed it to my memory, so that when I was fighting a war thousands of worlds away, far away from this peaceful little planet, I could pull them out and remember this.

We sat in silence for a few more minutes, looking at the vast hills of this world, when she said, "I don't know your name."

"Rex."

She smiled, and I noticed when she did so her eyes sparkled and dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth. She turned towards me, and said in a louder voice, "That's an interesting name… Is it a nickname?"

"I suppose so. My real name is CC-7567."

She looked immensely surprised when I said this. Finally, she said, "That's not a _name_, that's a _number_. A number can't be a name..." She trailed off, frowning into the distance as she turned it over in her head.

I realized that, being here, on this isolated little system, she had no idea what my brothers and I were. I stood, and she looked up at me, confused. Without a word I held out my hand to help her up, and after thinking it over, she gently placed her small hand into my large gloved one. Not taking my eyes off of her, I said, "Where did you put the dead?"

She pointed over to the large gray building, and said softly, "In that field. We wanted to bury them."

I was shocked; this would be the first time some of my brothers had gotten a real funeral when they were struck down. I felt relieved, and struck by her and her friends' kindness towards strangers.

I continued, still staring, trying to figure this mystery out. "So you didn't see their faces?"

She shook her head more vigorously than before. When we had been talking, I had led her down the wooden steps that led from the porch to the ground. I pulled her in the direction of the field, where she had put the dead troopers.

As soon as she realized where I was taking her, she became a little more resistant to my efforts, pulling back on my hand. I stopped, turned to face her, and said, "You need to see this to understand what I am about to say."

She bit her lip again, and she looked downwards. After a moment she looked up, her eyes hardened and determined. "All right," she said, albeit somewhat slowly. We climbed the fence; I was still holding her hand as we walked slowly to the little cluster.

When I saw the rows of my brothers, lined up neatly, with their hands clasped together on their chests in a last gesture of peace, I felt as if my body had suddenly lost all feeling. My shoulders stooped, and I let go of her hand. My eyes kept scanning their motionless bodies, over and over. Which brothers would we have to mourn today? She must have realized at once what had happened, and she said, "Sir? Sir, are you all right?" I felt her arm go around me, to support me.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to look up at her. I said quietly, "On the back of our helmets there is a latch. You press down on it for a few seconds, it will release it. Take it off, and look at his face."

If I had hit her, she couldn't have looked more horrified. She had taken her arm off of my shoulders. Her hand flew to where her heart was, and her eyes had expanded into the size of plates. "I can't!"

"You must." On the last word, I knelt beside the body of one of my brothers and looked up at her. Without a word she got onto her knees and reached for his helmet. She faltered only once, and I took her hand and put it on the latch. Looking sideways at her, I noticed she took a deep breath and when she did that, she seemed to be filled with courage. She pressed the latch, and when the sound of air rushing out stopped, she removed it.

My stomach fell. Ash's face was looking up at us, his eyes wide open. His tattoo glinted from the light of the moon on the side of his face. I heard her quiet cry and felt her body go rigid. I reached across her and gently closed his eyes. I looked at her. Her blue eyes had filled with tears, for this man she didn't know, who had died such an awful death. My heart pounded, but I kept my voice still when I said, "Look at his face, Caitlin." Saying her name held a rich pleasure for me, one that might be matched with Matchbox's obsession with Twi'lek girls or Jazz's for weapons.

She leaned back, so she was resting on the balls of her feet. When she took his face in, she looked at me. Her eyes widened again and her mouth opened as she realized it, realized what was going on. She looked back and forth, until her stunned voice said, "You share the same face."

When she looked at me again, I nodded and held her eyes with mine. "We all share the same face."

Her eyes flicked to the dead next to us, before she came back to me. "Brothers?"

I smiled, because I knew she thought I was showing her an actual sibling, as if Ash and I had the same parents. She still didn't understand, or maybe if she did, she couldn't wrap her mind around such a thought. I laughed a little, "No. Not brothers. Clones. All of these men here are clones. Including me."

She stood so still that at first I had no idea what just happened. She was breathing quickly, and she murmured, "I don't understand…"

I slowly stood and we started to walk back to the porch. I clasped my hands together behind my back and said, "There's not really much to get. The Republic needed an army; the Kaminoins knew how to genetically clone someone hundreds of times, plus take out any unnecessary habits. We were cloned from the bounty hunter named Jango Fett, and our lives, up until this point, have been sped up. The Kamino have programmed our genes to resume the normal rate of growth once we finished training. I finished two years ago."

She looked at me, curiosity burning in her eyes. She said, a small smile on her lips, "So in actuality you are…"

"Twenty-two standard years old."

She bit her lip and looked down at the ground again. By this time we had gotten onto the porch again and we sat down next to each other on the long bench that ran the entire length of the porch. To my surprise, she sat so close to me that our knees were touching. I am positive she did not notice it, because of all the information I had just thrown at her. Certainly I wasn't complaining.

She tucked one knee under her chin and asked, "I have several questions for you, sir. I hope you don't mind, but I'm just about burning up with curiosity."

I smiled at her, a wide grin I usually only gave when something went really well for us in battle. This wasn't nearly the same, but it had the same feeling of adventure, excitement, and even a small bit of danger to it. When she smiled back, it wasn't the shy smile she had given me just a few minutes ago; it was a large, bright smile. She already trusted me, and I her.

I said, "Call me Rex. You're not under my command, or even in the army."

She smiled again and warned, "We might be here a long time."

I smirked and said, "I've been through worse. Shoot."

She probably asked me hundreds of questions, ranging from obvious ones (how many worlds, ships, droids, etcetera) to the extremely deep ones that required a good five minutes to explain briefly (the war, different species of aliens, how the systems were governed, etcetera). She seemed to have no end to them, and no matter what answer I gave, it couldn't quench her curiosity. I told her about Jedi, the Separatists, what life for a clone was like, and even how we came into her world. In return, she tried to answer all of my questions about this curious new system: the name, stories, history, how one small planet wasn't ruled by one government… the list went on and on for both of us.

The sun had fully risen by the time the troopers started to wake up. I could hear them talking loudly, cursing and wondering where they were. I realized at once that while we had been talking, Caitlin had huddled in close, probably because of her lack of warm clothes. My arm was around her shoulders, and she had pulled her knees up underneath her and was resting her head on my arm.

She smiled up at me and said, "You should probably go take care of your troops. We'll be right there; we just have to get a few things ready first." Her eyes were locked with mine. She bit her lip and looked away.

I nodded and, not taking my eyes away, stood. She stood as well, and then smiled again and turned to leave. I opened the door and tried to relax before I met my troops, and inform them of what I had just learned.


	7. Chapter Six

**MINDSPRING- I FINALLY GOT MY FLASHDRIVE TO WORK! HUZZAH! *clears throat* Now back to important business...**

**Thank you times googolplex to all of the amazing reviewers! You guys are awesome!! Times infinity!! ^-^ **

**I know that the chapters from the girls' POV are a little slow/short/ maybe boring/I've lost my point... Oh yeah- It won't be like this for very long, I promise. It'll get trés exciting soon! So, without further ado… sit back, relax, and kick those feet up!**

_~Natalie~_

"Clones? I don't believe it. No way, no how." I muttered, climbing the concrete steps that led into the kitchen, following Caitlin and Maureen. As we entered, it became apparent that all of the men were now conscious, and, no doubt a little hungry. I listened to them as they discussed things from the room next to the kitchen. We would have a full view of them and them of us.

Great.

"It's _true_, Natalie! See, go and peek." Caitlin gently propelled me to the open door. I stubbornly dug my heels in and said, "Um, no thanks. Let's cook breakfast for them, shall we?" I turned around and closed the door. I'm sorry, but having a bunch of guys who crash-landed in my BFF's front lawn who just happen to be clones staring at me is not high on my to-do list.

Caitlin rolled her eyes and Maureen said, "So, what are we whipping up in here?"

"Last night I got all the main breakfast essentials- bacon, bagels, toast, sausage, omelet mixings, eggs, and doughnuts." I counted the list off on my fingers.

"Hmm. I vote protein for the big army men." Maureen said after a minute of serious thought.

I shrugged and Caitlin nodded, "Alright, then. Let's get cracking!"

I put my hand in my pocket, brought out my IPod, and waved it at Caitlin. "Please?"

She smirked and said, "Go for it."

I hooked up the music and turned it up, semi-loud, so the men could still discuss whatever without us missing our music.

In the privacy of the music, I could think, finally. It was Sunday, my gymnastics competition was in two days, and there are a bunch of strange men in our house, easily older and stronger than us. How could this thought not have crossed Caitlin's mind, really? I mean, sure it's nice and all, but isn't it a little dangerous for us? I shuddered, and continued with the cooking.

Earlier this morning, Caitlin had told us about her late-night, early-morning talk with the big man in charge, the one in blue she had first taken care of. Apparently, he was the Captain of the regiment that was in the next room, and apparently Caitlin had a little tiny crush on him.

Interesting.

Behind her back, Mo and I had decided that, although a bit odd, it would be cool if he felt the same way about her. She said she had felt a tug to go to him, and that he had been so easy to talk to, and… I swear, Mo and I listened to her for five minutes straight before tuning her out. Kit-Kat can be a little chatterbug sometimes.

About twenty minutes later, everything was set; the table, the food, the drinks, all of it. I turned off the music and Caitlin and I stood to the side as Mo dodged into the room and told them their feast was ready. You should have heard the clatter they made getting to the food. Hilarious. And even more hilarious, they had no idea what the food _was,_ but they took plateful after plateful of it and scarfed all of it down. We watched with amusement from the bar seats, eating our own tiny proportions. Caitlin was taking note of how much more food she would need to get on her trip to town this afternoon.

Looking at the men, I realized that they _were_ clones; the only differences were slight- hair cuts, hair color, but mainly tattoos. Lots of 'em, to. Sort of intimidating. After listening to them talk to each other, however, I relaxed more and more.

Eventually, the chat started to include us. It started when a clone with a mohawk and a tattoo of something slithering down his neck said, "Agh, I have the worst headache right now!"

All of a sudden, I remembered dragging the first man up the stairs and Caitlin accidently dropping his head on the concrete. Several times. I gasped quietly and looked at the other two. Eyes wide, lips pressed together to keep from laughing, I could tell they remembered too. Mo actually had tears in her eyes, and Caitlin was coughing to cover up her laugh. All of a sudden it got really quiet, and the man who had just spoken asked slowly, "What? What happened?"

Maureen got calm all of a sudden, and leaned across the counter at them, her silver eyes sparkling. Her tightly braided black hair fell across her shoulders and spilled over. Her dark skin gleamed.

I'm quite sure he thought he was faced with an exotic goddess, because he smiled shyly and looked around. She smiled back and said, "What's your name, soldier?"

He looked surprised that she could speak like an army officer. "Kirk."

"And do you happen to be occupying the top bunk bed in the room upstairs?"

He nodded again. Maureen smiled quite the dazzling actress's smile. Her teeth looked pure white against her dark sin, and he actually widened his eyes. As a matter of fact, they all did. It was quite funny.

Maureen turned to look at Caitlin in mock shock, eyes wide and mouth open. "_Caitlin!_" She chided. Caitlin bit her lip, but managed not laugh. She stared Mo straight in the eyes. "How dare you drop Kirk on his head, the poor injured man? Shame on you!"

Caitlin spread her hands and apologized amidst the roaring laughter from the men. I'm not sure why they thought it was funny, but… they _are_ men.

I stole a look at Rex. He was sitting with his soldiers. He was smiling, but his eyes were focused on Caitlin.

I smiled and leaned back, arms crossed. He _did_ feel the same way about Caitlin. Maureen owes me twenty bucks.

After that, they included us in their conversation. Even though they were clones, after a while it was really easy to remember who is who:

Rex bleached his hair; Nott has a shaved head; Jazz has a huge scar running from his temple to his jaw line (I planned to ask him about that later); Matchbox has a tattoo on the back of his neck; Odd Ball has three scars running diagonally across his face (also going to find out what happened); Kirk has the mohawk and a tattoo also down his neck; Veber has two different colored eyes, brown and blue (he told us weird genetic mishap); Fives has a tattoo of, what else, a five on his forehead; Link has a huge tattoo of something running around his neck; and Beta was missing a piece of his nose (also planned to ask w.t.f.).

All of the men had minor injuries; they had just fallen and cracked their heads on something when they had fallen. Pretty soon, they would all be up and running just fine, according to Rex. In fact, most of them, not counting OB (Odd Ball, if you didn't figure that out- he had head wound), were already fine.

"Can we go out and shoot today? This would be a good time to sharpen our skills." Matchbox asked, looking at Rex but directing the question at us. I looked at Caitlin and Maureen, who shrugged.

"Of course we can. I mean, what else are we going to do?"

"Um, we _are_ on a farm. There is always something to do on a farm." Caitlin said. She put her elbows on the counter and counted on her fingers, "There is driving the livestock out to the fields, taking the horses out, or, I don't know, getting rid of the two escape pods that are plowed into my backyard." She raised her eyebrows at the last one.

Rex nodded and said, "We'll take care of that first; then we can go to the outer fields and shoot."

Caitlin told them were their guns were, where they could go, and what they could and could not shoot at. When she mentioned cattle, they all looked at each other in confusion. I rolled my eyes and said, "Big, brown, fat, and slobbery."

Mo cut in, "Basically any domestic animal is off limits."

Twenty minutes later, they were outside, and every single one of them (minus OB) was hauling the huge pod out of the ground. It actually hadn't landed in the backyard; it had landed in one of the fields behind the house. And it was plowed in a good five feet, too. After we had cleaned up in the kitchen, Mo, Kat, and I went outside armed with the hose, sponges, and an IPod and speakers. We set to getting rid of the huge black blast marks covering the lower half of both the barn and the house. After about twenty minutes, Rex came up to Kat and reported the pods were out of the ground and hidden. She nodded and sent Mo to take them to their 'shooting' range.

Mo backed out the truck and ordered them into the back, while Rex tossed them the guns. Then she closed the gate and drove off to the farther fields.

Meanwhile, Kat and I finished up with the marks. They weren't that hard to get rid of, luckily. It just required a few seconds of high-pressure water to make it flake off, and the rest was off with a few wipes of the sponges.

It was now nearing noon, and Mo pulled back into the gravel driveway and said, "I'll go back in an hour."

I nodded and looked to the eastern field. All of a sudden, I remembered who was lying there. I shuddered and said, "Let's bury them. Now."

Kat looked surprised, but took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "I'll get the shovels."

Only five men had died, but in our minds it was five too many. Even though we had known them all less than twenty-four hours, it was enough to see that each man had a different personality, different hopes, wishes, likes, dislikes… the list went on and on.

As we dug the holes, I wondered, sweat running down my face and back and my hands blistering, _What could these men have been like? What would they have liked to do?_ And then, an awful thought struck me: _How many of these men have been bred to die? _

_How many have died, and how many more have to?_


	8. Chapter Seven

**MINDSPRING- Ok, my view on Ahsoka Tano is that either you hate her or you like her. I like her, I think she is a great addition to the storyline. If you don't like her, don't take it out in your review, please! Because this is actually one of my very favorite chapters so far. Enjoy!**

_~Ahsoka~_

As I watched my Master pace up and down, I was struck with sudden guilt by the lie I had been forced to tell to Master Obi-Wan. We had talked to him a few hours ago.

A Grand General, as well as a Jedi Master!

I shook my head and sighed. Even though Anakin was a great Master, he could sometimes get a little… odd.

We hadn't really gone to Naboo for repairs. Well, we had, but the damage to the ship had been on purpose. Skyguy had 'accidently' run into a small meteor shower on the way to our assigned system, but I knew better. How many times had he _bragged_ about his flying skills? About three million times too many, that's for sure. He had scraped by one meteor, not big enough to kill us, but big enough to do some damage.

Even though he thought he was being so sly, I knew the real reason behind our trip to Naboo.

Anakin Skywalker was _in love_.

With a _Senator._ Padmé Amidala!

No wonder she always requested Master Obi-Wan and Master when she needed help. He didn't know I knew, which was good.

I had found out when we landed on Naboo- he thought I had gone back to my quarters, or something. But I hadn't. I had noticed that when we landed, Senator Amidala was there, as if she had known we would be coming. She was dressed in a very cheerful looking gown, and she smiled broadly when she saw Anakin walk out of the ship. I could see that even through the windows.

"Ahsoka, stay here; Senator Amidala needs to speak with me. It won't take long." he had said when he re-boarded. I was waiting in the cockpit, and when I looked at him he had a strange look in his eyes. _Uh-oh,_ I thought, mentally sighing, he's_ obviously up to no good._

So I said, "That's fine, I'll be practicing my saber techniques." He believed me, which was the strongest proof yet that something was out of place. I mean, really, when was the last time I had truly _practiced_? Ever since Master Yoda had thrown me into being Anakin Skywalker's Padawan learner a year earlier than normal, I barely had time to _sit_, let alone practice!

Anyway, so after about three minutes, I slowly peeked over the edge of the window, and saw him, standing with her in the shadows of a tall column.

_Kissing_.

My eyes flew open and so did my mouth. I watched, fascinated, horrified, that _my_ Master would break one of the Jedi Knight's most sacred laws!

With a _Senator_!

I flew down to the practicing area and drew my lightsaber, pouring out all of the confusion that had just enveloped me, like tidal waves, threatening to crush me. I struggled to keep myself calm, to not go under.

Honestly, my whole world was shattered.

Everything I had thought to be solid and concrete now was revealed to be shabby and falling apart.

I thought that Master was one of the greatest Jedi's in the entire galaxy, but now I realized he was just one of the luckiest; and he uses his strong connection with the Force to keep secrets from everybody, even the Council. He abused the Force. No good could ever come out of that.

After about three excruciating hours of non-stop attacks and counter-attacks and defense movements, I had finally calmed down enough to realize that I had over-reacted, just a little bit. So, sweating like a pig and exhausted, I sank to the floor and began to meditate.

_There is no emotion, there is peace._

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

_There is no passion, there is serenity._

_There is no chaos, there is harmony._

_There is no death, there is the Force._

I was completely calm, rested, and peaceful, filled with the Force and the strange feeling that comes with it, when he finally returned. I acted normal, teasing him about his mistaken length of time. He smiled and didn't suspect a thing.

After sending word to Captain Rex to leave without us for the _Revelation,_ he informed me we had to stay in Naboo for a couple of days while we either repaired the 'heavily damaged ship' or found a replacement.

When Master Obi-Wan had contacted us from the _Revelation_ about our ARC squadron, he had asked me what had happened. I know he had seen right through the lie when I answered.

Jedi are not supposed to lie.

Now we were on our way to meet with the Master, before heading out to the Omega sector. I was actually excited; now we would be able to do something for the first time in a long time. Oh, sure, the months had _seemed_ peaceful and restful, but really they were just filled with work, nonstop work.

Master was now pacing because he was debating the odds of our men actually surviving out there. It had happened yesterday, so we were running out of time. He knew, or I hope he knew, the actual chance that even Rex was still alive; it's hard to survive when you're stranded on a barren rock.

I yawned, which seemed to remind him that I was there. He looked at me strangely, than murmured, "Go to your quarters, Snips. I'll need you wide awake for tomorrow."

I shrugged and walked away from him, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

My quarters were located in the belly of this frigate, with just a small mirror, bed, table, and cabinet as its decorations. I looked around the gray room, until my eyes fell on the mirror. I looked at myself; a fourteen (standard) year-old Togruta Jedi Padawan. Dark red skin, small montras, and unusual white markings on my face for my species. And my eyes. Togrutas were supposed to have completely black eyes, but I had blue ones. I touched my Padawan 'braid', which came down from in between my montras and hung down the side of my back head-tail. I ran a hand over my _lekku_, feeling the ridges and sighed. I was slightly abnormal, even for an alien. I was the only alien on this ship.

The only female, too, for that matter.

I knelt by my bed and pulled out from underneath it a small box. It was, besides my lightsaber, the only personal possession I had. In it was my holocron, and besides other things, it was filled with messages from my friends back at the Temple, stories, descriptions of battles, systems, and weapons.

I opened the first message, from my best friend Ikkia'lihj. She was a few years older than me, but we had been roommates and basically stuck together like glue. When we first met, I was about three standard years old, she was five, and I couldn't pronounce her name. So I called her (and still do call her) Ikki. We were in the same clan at the Temple- the Bear Clan.

She was learning under Master Aayla now, which is fitting, since they are both Twi'leks. Besides the fact that Ikki has purple skin, she and Aayla could have been sisters; both beautiful in a way that only Twi'leks really could be. And, of course, her lightsaber color corresponded with her skin- it was purple as well.

I hugged it to my chest and sighed. Of course, _I_ got stuck with the male Master. Even though the men were great, sometimes I wished for some _female_ companionship.

Even a fellow _alien _would be nice to talk to.


	9. Chapter Eight

**MINDSPRING- FINALLY IT WORKS! Sorry, I just spent at least an hour trying to transfer my work from my other computer to this new one, and IT WORKS!!! Yay! **

**Ok, so this chapter is sappy/cheesy, but I had to include _at least_ one chapter like this. Don't blame me for my natural instincts as a woman! Alright, I'm done rambling now. Enjoy and review!!**

_~Caitlin~_

Sometimes, I forget that the clones are clones. Sometimes, and it is getting more frequent, I catch myself thinking they're just regular guys. Especially tonight on the porch- honestly, it had grown to everyone hanging out, talking it up and drinking some cold drinks (It was still at least eighty- even at night.) It just started out as Captain Rex and me, last night.

Last night. Oh man, was it going to stick forever in my memory. We had discussed so many things. I was truly obsessed with this galaxy that we didn't know existed, and that apparently didn't know we did, either. So many new cultures, and peoples, and things to absorb! I found out that he and his men were actually an advanced type of clone, called ARCs, or Advanced Recon Clones.

Suddenly, the wars here seemed so petty and small to me. Actually, everything did. While every tiny little move anyone made out in that galaxy affected hundreds, maybe even thousands of other worlds out there, our problems and concerns and happiness seemed so little, so self-centered. Rex had said that the capital of the Republic, a planet called Coruscant, had one trillion inhabitants. The entire planet was one city! And had been ever since history began to be documented.

It astounded me that they had had flying cars and ships that could travel at light speed before we had even discovered fire.

Plus, last night would be engraved in my mind because of how surprisingly easy it was to talk to Captain Rex, and how he made me laugh, and how he knew so much already but was curious about us here… Yeah, I have a crush on him. Big whoop.

I had been talking to Natalie and Maureen about it while we were grilling hamburgers outside, so Link and Beta must have overheard it while they were taking a break from drills. (I'll admit it wasn't the most secure place to talk about my feelings… but whatever.)

It was basically just a move-over from dinner. We finished dinner, and then Mo said we should go out on the porch, because it was so claustrophobic in the small kitchen. And so here we are!

Odd Ball was right in the middle of telling his fascinating story on how he got the three scars across his face (and by fascinating, I mean interesting but probably more than ninety percent made up.)

"…And so I am dodging the blows as fast as I can, but this monster is fast as hell, and an absolute brute, too. Honestly, I think he was at least the size of that barn."

Link leaned into us and stage whispered, "And this is all true, of course." I laughed with everyone else while Odd Ball hit him on the back of the head (pretty hard, too), and then continued as if nothing had happened.

"Anyway, I've lost my gun, and I'm still slightly disoriented from that crash landing. Suddenly, his claw flashes out of nowhere and absolutely rips my face to shreds. So now I'm blind as well!"

Maureen, Natalie, and I did the best faux horror faces ever- it was so hard to keep them straight when ten men were laughing as hard as they can. But we succeeded (sort of). Odd Ball continued his story, with strategic interruptions by the other men and the three of us. It was great. By the time he finished his tall tale, we were all laughing so hard tears were actually streaming down my face.

We were all laughing so loudly that I started to worry that the neighbors across the street would call the police.

I think the guys liked having some new ears to tell the story to. It wasn't just something they had all experienced and wanted to forget- it was now a story. Plus, we had no idea what was real and what wasn't in this galaxy, so they basically had free range with the amount of twisting they could do. It turned out to be a contest, with Mo, Nat, and me as the judges. I think that the winner had to be when Mo asked Veber the story behind his two different colored eyes.

He looked at her like she was crazy and said, "I have two different colored eyes. End transmission."

We booed him and Nat said, "Okay, who can make up the best story?" That started at least ten minutes of intense discussion, during which I couldn't even hear myself think.

Kirk and Jazz made the best impromptu skit about it- it involved radiation, giant rats, and a stupid droid. Even Veber was smiling by the end, and laughing a little (!). He was the serious, quiet-thinker type, but making those people actually have emotions is fun.

Every so often I snuck a look at Captain Rex. He was so nice last night; it would be hard not to like him. It was so weird to think that this was the great Captain Rex of all of the clones' stories- honestly, he was in every story, and he was kick ass, too! He was actually one of those people that could do amazing things, but when you mentioned it in a praise-worthy manner they smiled uncomfortably and looked away. It was kind of sweet.

It was starting to get late. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. I wasn't tired, although I knew I should be. That was about the time that the discussions turned a little more serious; as in like, questions that Rex and I asked last night to each other. Then we started talking about their earlier missions- well, the three of us did most of the prompting. They answered in short answers, acting as if they didn't want to recall any more of it than needed.

So Natalie, brave little girl she is, asked the important question, "So, you guys are going to forget us?"

That got an answer out of them. They looked at each other, and then Fives smiled and said, "I honestly don't think that's possible."

Link smiled even wider and said, "Yeah, somehow, you would find a way to get to us-"

"Even if we were in the most top-secret bases of the Republic's bases, you would find us."

"And then you would force us to remember."

Fives leaned back on his chair and put his hands behind his head, "Ha, I can just see that- three angry teen girls storming the base."

Maureen looked at him and raised her eyebrows, "And you'll be cowering in fear, of course. We can be scarier than the scariest monster- we're teenage girls."

We stayed out on the porch for another good hour or two- by that time I was nodding off majorly. We said good night and walked to the tent, where we fell asleep almost at once.

I woke up curled into a ball underneath warm covers on a soft mattress.

I sat up quickly, and looking around. I was in the master bedroom. Maureen and Natalie were squeezed into the huge bed with me, both sleeping soundly. I closed my eyes and tried to remember what happened- we went to the tent, fell asleep, and then what?

My heart leaped and I smiled with satisfaction when I had the answer. This had to be proof that the men were our friends- they had carried us into the house after we fell asleep.

There was no way that they could forget us when they left.


	10. Chapter Nine

_-Obi-Wan-_

According to every known piece of information about the Omega sector, this place is barren. Void of anything and everything- especially life. But as we neared one small system, third from the star that warmed it, it become more and more obvious that every single one of those documents had been wrong. Somewhat embarrassingly so.

For example, the air checked to be perfect for life to sustain itself, as well as the amount of water, plant life, and temperature.

Plus, as soon as we came out of hyperspace (we being Anakin, Ahsoka, Commander Cody and myself), we were nearly hit with what was, I had first assumed, to be a floating remnant of Anakin's battle frigate that had been lost here. But as I watched, it shot around the planet, with the light reflecting off of it, and I realized it was, in fact, a very ancient-looking, very crude satellite.

"Commander," I said slowly, narrowing my eyes at the blue and green system. "Get a life-count check on this planet."

"Right away, General."

I looked at the system again before noticing several more of the satellites. Anakin and Ahsoka stepped up next to me, and Ahsoka said, "Master? It looks like Naboo." She sounded slightly surprised.

I nodded and said, "I have the feeling someone doesn't want the Republic knowing about this system."

Commander Cody cut in quickly, "General, life-count is in. Records indicate at least one billion human life forms alone." He turned back to the machine and started to navigate our way to where the clones' signals were the strongest.

Anakin smiled slightly and said, "Yeah, I got that feeling, too."

As we neared the surface, more and more evidence become visible. Structures to house the population, some sort of strange transportation vehicles that rode on the ground, not in the air. This was most defiantly not an inhospitable planet.

In fact, compared to the majority of systems, it looked like one of the most hospitable. No one spoke as we neared our destination; it was simply too much to take it. I had seen many different worlds, and would probably see many more before I die, but none struck me as much as this one.

Plus the fact that such a technologically behind society could escape the Republic's notice, much less the Jedi Council's notice, is incredible. Something or someone was indeed protecting this little pocket of life.

We managed to track the clones' signals to what appeared to be a farm, where the scar marks from where the escape pod had crashed onto the land were still visible. I frowned and said, "Look. Battle droid parts- a serious battle happened here. And not to long ago."

Anakin agreed, but said, "If so, then where are the bodies?" We looked grimly at each other as the ship gently touched down on this new world.

We walked out of the ship, the four of us, and the first thing I noticed was two escape pods leaning up against a building made out of metal. I pointed these out to Anakin, and he nodded. "Frigate Alpha 112- it's them all right."

The building they were leaning on seemed to be a barn of some sorts. Inside, I could hear something snorting. I walked around to the front and saw two pure white quadruped animals, with hair growing from the base of the thick neck right up in between the two pointed ears. What are these? I've never even heard of something like this.

Whoever thought that the Omega sector was barren really needs a thorough medical examination.

We had already seen hundreds of different life forms, and we had only been here for five standard minutes. It was strange; how could this not have gone unnoticed for as long as it did?

Anakin, meanwhile, was walking up the incline where a white building was resting. The lights were on, and through the open windows, we could hear a voice was issuing from the window.

And, to my complete surprise, it was the voice of Count Dooku.

"… This is the beginning of a great new time for Earth- imagine it for a moment, friends, when the rest of the galaxy discovers you here, as we have been fortunate to. Earth shall be known as the new center of capitalistic trade and commerce, what with all of the abundance of materials and resources you have here. A new era shall arise, the Age of the Separatists, and you shall all go down in history.

"Therefore I urge you all, if the Republic scum dares to set foot on this beautiful system of yours, turn them away with guns and swords! The clones are worthless, they are not humans! They have been bred to destroy and will do just that to what you have created here- what they call 'justified' for their dirty schemes. The Jedi who lead them are no better! They care not for your cultures or history- they only crave power! They will steal, plunder, destroy, and enslave you if you do not push them away!

"These are dangerous times, but can and will be prosperous for all if you choose the wise path to follow the Separatists!"

As the rest of the speech was drowned in cheers, we ran closer so as to get a better look. The noise covered ours, and we crouched next to a bush. Ahsoka slowly stood, and peeked over the edge. Her face was cut in half by the harsh light. She dropped down and said quickly, "It's them, alright. There are only ten clones. Captain Rex is still alive," she said, answering Anakin's look. "Plus, there are three Human girls with them. No one is talking; they're all listening to something."

A clicking noise told us that whatever they were listening to was shut off. A second later, a clone spat out furiously, "Damnit."

Using the resulting tide of curses and arguments as a cover, we scanned the perimeter, looking for an opening we could enter the building by. Commander Cody noticed a porch and we quickly crouched again and discussed a plan.

"How do we get the men out here while those girls are with them?" Anakin asked, looking at me.

"I don't think those girls were keeping the clones here against their will," I said doubtfully.

"But, Master, did you hear what Count Dooku was saying? And what the reaction of the crowd was? They could be keeping them here for execution!"

I looked at Ahsoka and said, "You are worrying too much, Padawan. They are all fine."

She nodded and glanced down. Commander Cody cut in, "So, sir, what's the plan?"

I smiled and said, "They don't look dangerous. How's knocking on the door? Or," I asked, looking at Anakin, "is that too easy?"

He shrugged. Ahsoka grinned and stood, "Well, what are we waiting for?" She stepped onto the wooden porch and walked to the door. As she reached for the handle, it banged open and a blur of blue and white flew out, along with a loud stream of warnings.

She reached for her lightsaber, but luckily she recognized the man who had put his gun against her head before she could do serious damage. "Rex!" She said, almost joyfully, beaming.

He pulled back and said, in a very surprised tone, "Sirs?"

A few bangs echoed from inside the house as the rest of the men flew out. Looking a little worse for wear, with a few injuries, they otherwise looked ecstatic. The young Humans were no where to be seen. Commander Cody ordered them all at attention, and as they lined up, a small movement brought my attention to behind the clones.

I looked around the men. One of the girls was standing in the doorway. She had pale skin, and dark hair. Her two friends were standing behind her, watching us with guarded eyes and expressions. One had dark skin, like Master Windu, and hair; the other one had pale skin and bright hair, like me.

Nott noticed them and said to me, "Sir, the situation here is too dangerous to leave them without any protection. We need to keep in contact."

"I quite agree. Cody?" I looked at the Commander. He understood at once and pulled a small but efficient holoprojector out of his belt. He handed it to the first girl and quickly explained how it worked, saying that it was only to keep him updated on what the Count was doing here, and for dire emergencies. She turned it over and over in here hand, fascinated, as he talked. While they were conversing, Rex quickly filled us in while the men prepared to leave.

The dark one glanced at something on her wrist. Her eyes widened and she showed the other girl, who proceeded to shriek at the top of her lungs. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Anakin, who had the same look of puzzlement on his face. She turned and sprinted up the stairs as the dark girl clutched the first's one's arm and said, "Caitlin! Her gymnastics meet!" She then followed the bright-haired girl, who was keeping up a low stream of curses as she ran.

'Caitlin' turned to us and said, in a speed I didn't think was possible, "I'm so sorry, but we have to leave- guns are with the helmets in that barn where they always are again I'm really sorry!" Then she ran upstairs as well.

Ahsoka giggled suddenly. When Anakin looked at her, she stopped at once, but I noticed she was still smiling as we reboarded the ship. As we left the ground, we saw the girls running out to a vehicle, carrying all sorts of bags and throwing them in. When we left the atmosphere, a collective breath of relief went out as the men fell back into their normal routine, glad to finally be back.


	11. Chapter Ten

_~Natalie~_

"…And I didn't get any sleep, and I learned that we're probably going to die soon, and I didn't get any sleep!" I sat in the back of the truck and pouted. I was annoyed. There was no way I was going to well at the meet today.

Maureen sighed and furrowed her brow. "You said that already. I know you didn't get any sleep- none of us did!"

I sighed and concentrated on putting on my makeup for the gymnastics event. We were cutting it very close- I would get there right before the doors closed. I already had on my leotard, and I was running through my routines over and over in my head.

I was trying- key word, trying- to not concentrate on the events that had happened less than twenty minutes ago. If I am completely honest, I am really sad that the guys are gone. I know at first I was a little annoyed at the ten random strangers showing up in weird space pod things, but after I got used to them, I really enjoyed their company.

And now they're gone.

I didn't look at Caitlin, because it was pretty obvious she was more than a little sad at this turn of events as well. Not just because Captain Rex had to leave before she could get her first kiss _ever_, but because she had realized something a little more serious than that:

We were in serious danger. Caitlin was positive that someone would find out she had housed and taken care of the men, and then we would be killed or shipped away to some godforsaken place. Maureen and I told her a million times that she was just being a worry wart and that she should calm down, but she wouldn't take the advice.

Maureen had been really close to some of those guys, and so she was very quiet, which disturbed me, because hello it's Maureen. She is never quiet. But now, she's just staring out the window at the farming landscapes as they flew past. I'm sure that her over-reactive imagination was dreaming up the worst things that were happening to them.

And so, we drove to the big meet, the meet that would decide my future, each of us pondering our own things.

Although, my 'ponderings' were admittedly a little less dramatic than the others.

~Five hours Later~

I squeezed my eyes shut, letting the tears pool and pour their way out onto my face. My heart was pounding, and I was clutching the chair so tightly my knuckles turned white.

I reached up with a trembling hand and yanked my hair out of the bun, letting it fall. My shoulders bent with silent sobs.

I didn't win the scholarship. I didn't even place.

My mind had been so focused on the clones leaving, and the war that might make us victims, and everything else, that I had completely screwed up my floor routine. I tried to make up for it on the uneven bars, but another girl beat me out.

I was just glad my parents hadn't seen this.

I covered my face with my hands, and jumped when I felt Caitlin's hand on my back. Mo and Kat both enveloped me in a hug, and they just sat silently, letting me bawl, because I literally had no future now. I couldn't do anything right.

"Oh, poor Nat… I hate to see you like this…" Maureen said softly.

I sniveled and moaned, "I can't go to college now. What will I do? I'm not smart enough to find a way out! What will I do?"

Kat said gently, "Natalie, let's get you home. We'll figure this out, together. I promise. Okay?"

I shivered and nodded. I stood and slouched my way to get my stuff when I noticed Kat already had it all together. She side-hugged me and led me out to the truck.

On the way back to the ranch house, I stared out the window, the plains blurred by both my tears and the speed at which Kat was racing back. I sighed and relaxed back into my seat, and closed my eyes to finally get some sleep.

After my little nap, we had a quick meeting in the living room. It still smelled like them.

"What are we going to do?"

I looked up at Caitlin. "What do you mean?" I thought she was going to talk about the meet, and my future. It seemed pretty insensitive- usually Kat could read other people's feelings like books.

"Well," she said, leaning back on the leather couch and tucking her legs underneath her, "we are pretty much the only ones on this entire planet who knows the truth: that we are in danger and the people that have been deemed dangerous are in fact the only ones who can save us." She was trying to distract me from my loss.

Maureen said, "Well, obviously we can't march up to the White House and yell at the president. That would end badly."

"Duh."

I said suddenly, "Why don't we go into town, and see what's going on? They probably have a lot of stuff going on, and in the city we can see what everyone actually thinks of it. Then we could keep a record of everything, and send it to the Jedi."

Caitlin and Maureen smiled at me. "I like your thinking, Nat. Let's go right now!"

"Yes, let's- that way I can get the meet off my mind." I stood and practically ran to the car.

We had driven for about twenty minutes or so when we saw our first droid. I shook my head; I bet all the scientists in the world are drooling over this technology right now. From the way the clones talked about droids, they were crude, stupid robots, but from our point of view, this was the epitome of technology. I could suddenly see why everyone was jumping on board with the Separatists so quickly; in their minds, nothing could surpass the Separatists' level of style and knowledge.

We knew better, though.

As Caitlin drove around, and Maureen looked out the windows, a few thoughts kept rebounding inside my head: How can the U.N. not see the danger with droids running around carrying guns all over the place? Why did they just hand over the world to the Separatists? Does the government even know what they are 'separating' from? Why can't they see the obvious evil?

By the time we reached home again, a good two hours later, those thoughts had formed themselves into something. When we came into the house, I quickly grabbed a pencil and paper and started to scribble it down before I could forget. When they followed me in, I started, but continued writing furiously.

"Why are you so jumpy?" Maureen's voice asked hotly. She sounded annoyed, but I didn't answer her until I had written down the last thing. I turned, pressing the paper to my chest. Both of my best friends were standing there, regarding me with worried looks. I grinned and said, "Remember how in history we learned about Martin Luther, and those 95 Theses?"

Maureen looked taken aback, but Caitlin replied, "Of course. Why?"

"What was he doing again?"

"Opposing the Church. Ninety-five complaints against the Catholic Church."

I nodded, my breath catching, I was so excited. They still didn't understand it, but they soon will. "And what did he accomplish? Or, I guess I should say, what did he start?"

Maureen stomped her foot. "Why does it matter what that son of a miner did?"

However, Caitlin cocked her head and held my gaze. "He started the Protestant Revolution."

I grinned, "Right. A revolution. Against something he knew was wrong. He wanted to help the people." I handed them the sheet and said, "Well, so do I."

As they read, their expressions changed from confused, to stunned, to absolutely ecstatic. While Caitlin jumped around, beaming, Maureen said softly, "You should change your name. Use an alias, because these guys are dangerous."

After thinking and searching for a name that all Americans could identify with, I finally put down: Lady Liberty. "Cheesy, but it will have to do," I said, hiding a small smile.

Caitlin laughed and replied, "Ok, that works out perfectly! Mo and I will get jobs at the Separatist Center in downtown-"

"Huh?"

Maureen giggled and Caitlin said, "Apparently, in every major city- they spread fast- the Separatists have set up bases looking for 'Republic traitors'. It's in an old building, and they needed some help. So we two will go out tomorrow, get jobs, and that way-"

"And that way, we might get access to everything that they could be planning!" Maureen finished excitedly.

"It'll be dangerous." My grin faded when I thought about how much we would all be risking our lives.

She shrugged. "Someone has to do the dirty work." And with that, it was decided- three teens from Kansas City were going to plan a revolution.

When the good people of this town wake up tomorrow morning, they are going to find their entire town plastered with this note:

_Dear Senators, Representatives, and Governors of the United States of America:_

_I am deeply disappointed in you. Ever since the birth of this nation, one we are all blessed to call home, you and your predecessors have been squabbling amongst yourselves every four years- no, let me rephrase that. Every single year since our Founding Fathers signed that document and refused to submit to the whims and wills of another country, you and your predecessors have been arguing what is best for the United States. Yet when a group who calls themselves 'righteous' and 'accepting of all' shows up from a galaxy we had no idea existed, and had never heard our pleas for help, you have handed the leader of the Separatists the keys to this country, and the world!_

_Have you even asked what they are separating from, or why? Have you done any background checks at all? Have you even attempted to learn anything from their previous endeavors on other planets? If you have answered no, it is most likely you have heard and listened and accepted their side of the story. Remember there are two sides to every story._

_Some of the population, and maybe even some amongst yourselves, have only accepted them because they represent everyone's' childhood desire of other life than us. However, just because the Separatists arrived with fancy toys does not account for handing over the country._

_Our Founding Fathers would have been upset. When they signed the Declaration of Independence over two hundred years ago, they sent a clear message to the rest of the world: America will fight for its freedom, justice, and its people._

_What are you doing?_

_Lady Liberty_


	12. Chapter Eleven

**MINDSPRING- Sorry again for the long wait. This chapter was a stubborn one; I could not get past a part for several weeks. **

**Enjoy and review, please!**

_

* * *

~Ahsoka~_

"… so nothing much has happened, in all honesty." The blue image of Caitlin hovered delicately on the hologram table. Master Kenobi, Master, and I all stood around it as the Earth girl reeled off the happenings on her planet.

Master Obi-Wan rubbed his chin and looked at her thoughtfully. "I must say I'm impressed with your work. Sneaking into the Separatist command center was a very good idea. However, it might become a little too risky for you three to continue working there. If it does, pull out."

She frowned a little and said, "I appreciate the worry, Master. But I must disagree. So far, the centers have made no real advancement, and if they do, Maureen and I could easily pull them back. She works in the records department, and I am an assistant to one of their lesser leaders. We have access to all of their information."

I froze. I hadn't really been paying attention, but that last sentence snapped me right up. I looked over at my Master, and I could tell by his hopeful expression that we had reached the same thought.

He stepped forward into her view. As Master Kenobi turned towards him, her eyes followed. She gave a little smile and waited for him to speak.

"When you say _all_ of the information… do you mean to include battle strategies and plans as well?"

Master Obi-Wan shook his head at him, yet I could barely see the same slightly hopeful expression on his. He hid his emotions well, better than Master, for sure. I knew we were getting into dangerous territory- if we allowed our feelings to take control instead of logic and reason, than we would be setting ourselves up for failure. And we couldn't afford that at this time in the war. The Jedi were getting worn down, the troops were getting killed off in massive numbers, dying more quickly than the cloners could produce new ones. Plus, the Separatists never seemed to have a lack of anything- supplies or armies.

I crossed my arms and waited for Caitlin's response. She bit her lip and said quietly, "Probably… I don't know _exactly_ where those would be stored. But I'll check."

Master Obi-Wan spoke up before Master could get in another word. "Thank you, Caitlin, but that won't be necessary. It's much too dangerous, and if they caught you…" He let his sentence hang in the air, the silence emphasizing his statement.

Caitlin nodded, and said, "Alright, but I really don't mind. If that is what it takes to win my home back- and, uh, win the war- then I'll do it without a second thought."

While Master glared at Obi-Wan, the latter bowed his head and thanked Caitlin, and then shut the holoprojector off. Anakin said angrily, "Why won't you let her check?"

"Anakin, it is much too dangerous, as I said before. She is not a soldier, she's barely even a legal citizen on her planet! We can't put someone that young on the front lines."

"It's not the front lines if they're fighting with words and holoprojectors."

"I disagree. Since the whole planet is under the spell of the Separatists right now, anything out of the ordinary- be it fought with blasters or words, is hazardous. We must let _subtlety _fight for them, not bold attacks."

I watched them as they bickered their way out of the Command Deck. I sighed, not really wanting to follow. I was exhausted, and I was in no mood for any of their arguments. Instead, I turned around and walked into the hallway, to go back to my room.

I had just laid down on the bed and closed my eyes when my communicator started beeping. I groaned loudly, and brought it up to my mouth. "What?" I said, as irritably as I could possibly manage.

It was Skyguy. "Meeting, Command Deck. Now."

I groaned again and heaved myself off of the bed. As I entered the deck, I saw it was a rather large meeting- between Chancellor Palpatine, Masters Yoda and Windu, and various Senators (including, I noticed with an uncomfortable twinge in my gut, Senator Amidala).

"… I still can't believe one billion life forms could have existed there without our knowledge!" Palpatine was saying. "In fact, I'm not even sure if I believe it now." I slid into the back, next to my Master. He glanced at me, sighed, and then went back to the conversation.

Master Windu said, "I agree with you. It is very unlikely that a system that populated could have gone unnoticed for so long."

Anakin said, somewhat irritably, "I know it sounds impossible, but it's true. I think something was, and still is, trying to make sure we don't know about it. But now that the Separatists are there, that armor is cracking."

Chancellor Palpatine said quietly, "That is probably true, but if I have a hard time believing it, then I know the Senate will dismiss it as a myth immediately. Nothing in my power can change that, and if the Separatists are truly there, that could bode ill for the people if we take no action."

Master Kenobi said, "Then what do you suggest we do, Chancellor?"

He rubbed his chin and said, "Bring them here, for interrogation. It seems like the systems you were assigned to have been quiet, and will be safe for a bit longer. I will need to ask them questions about their system and planet before we introduce the problem to the Senate. Now, begging your pardon, I must go now."

Everyone bowed as his image shut off.

Senator Amidala spoke up at once, "It would not be safe to get them."

"I agree." Master Windu nodded and crossed his arms. "The Separatists would notice at once if one of our ships landed, and even if they didn't, they would notice the sudden disappearance of three of their citizens."

"Alright, so what shall we do? Disobey the Chancellor, or risk the death of three young civilians?" Master Kenobi said thoughtfully, stroking his beard like he usually does.

It was silent on the deck as everyone thought about the dire situation. Both options were terrible to consider. It was just a matter of deciding which was less so. I, for one, thought the Chancellor could wait a few months until this whole 'new system and new planet' thing blew over. But, of course, no one would ask the Padawan. Especially not Anakin Skywalker's Padawan.

Master Yoda spoke, the first time for the meeting, "Too dire, the situation is. Talk later, decide later, we must."

Senator Ta of Ryloth agreed, not saying anything else. I saw him reach out to a platter of food and take a small nibble. I wrinkled my nose in disgust, and listened as Senator Amidala said, "Although I fear both options will have terrible consequences, no matter what happens."

With that, the meeting was adjourned. One by one, the blue images flickered and disappeared. I turned to the Masters and said, "What do you think will happen?"

Master Kenobi said, with a hint of regret, "We might have to risk their lives to bring their world into our view. Otherwise, I fear many more will die."

I glanced down, thoughtful. One option was to disobey the Chancellor, which would lead to great unrest in the Senate. There would be debates whether or not the Jedi were trustworthy, and the Senators would split, leaving the Jedi Order caught in the middle.

But to risk the lives of three citizens, who were already doing us a great favor? They were risking enough as it is. If they died, the work and secrets they had gathered would die with them, and the planet would be lost.

I sighed and went back to my rooms in silence.


	13. Chapter Twelve

**MINDSPRING- I have figured out the direction of the plot! I had three different ways it could have gone, but after a long debate, this is the one. Sorry about the ridiculously long wait. I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review!**

_

* * *

~Maureen~_

I smiled to myself as I noticed the headline in the newspaper: _RIOTS BREAK OUT OVER THE WORLD, _and, in smaller print underneath, _MYSTERIOUS 'LADY LIBERTY' NOTES ARE CAUSE_. Technically, the papers weren't supposed to print anything that was biased towards the riots against the Separatists, but they have had lots of practice in discrete biases. Everywhere I looked, I saw a faint gleam of hope in everyone's eyes. All the papers, online and off, sang quiet praise of Lady Liberty.

Natalie had typed at least four letters since her first one, about one every week or so, but smaller Ladies were being found everywhere. Lords as well. I smiled and closed my eyes in happiness. Earth was about to change, and _we_ were behind it!

Things were going well in every other aspect as well. Caitlin and I found new information almost everyday in the Separatist Center. I've found ten different strategies in the records department, while Caitlin has gotten a good majority of their future battle strategies. And we left no stone unturned. Whenever we had the chance, we would go through every little thing on every little computer in that place. And let me tell you, that was a _lot_ of information to check.

No matter how hard she tried to hide it, Natalie and I both saw that Caitlin would climb out of bed at eleven, go out to the porch, and think wistfully about Rex until early in the morning. Well, that's what she told us. However, we knew better. A few nights after the men had left, she had received a message from the Republic. Thinking it was one of the men with a request of what to seek out, she answered it in her pajamas. She dropped her bowl of grapes when she saw that it was Rex. Who was definitely _not_ acting on orders.

Ever since, they have talked all night, every night, about who knows what. But her happy little smile told Nat and me everything we needed to know.

I looked up from my computer cautiously. I grinned- now that I was close to the last one at the Separatist Center in downtown Kansas City, the _real_ work began. I pressed a button on the side of the monitor and Caitlin's face popped up. I said, "So, how is it up there, miss high-and-mighty?"

She smiled, a tired but happy smile, and replied, "It's very quiet. Could you come up here and keep me company please?"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. This was all for show, for the cameras we knew were watching our every move. By now, we knew almost every location of the security devices on our two floors. Shutting down my computer, I walked past rows of dormant computers and headed for the elevator. Before the Seppies had moved in, you couldn't have even used the stairs. Now, the place looked like the set of a _Star Trek _movie.

Every night, this happens. Every night, we risk our lives and our families to get this precious cargo to the Republic. Every day, we hear more and more horror stories about people getting poisoned, shot before their family, beaten, or simply taken in the middle of the night with no clues as to where they went. No wonder I have no more fingernails.

Caitlin greeted me with a small smile and a hello. We marched like soldiers to her office, which was nothing more than a desk with a super-fancy computer on it and a rainforest's worth of paper.

While Caitlin worked away, I sat down at one of the computers next to her and started fiddling around, playing that I was bored. There was an extremely ill-placed camera right over her head, so I had to play this part like I cared what the hell happened to the Separatists.

I leaned over the low wall that separated her from the other workers, crossed my arms, and said, "So? Any news on the clones?"

She shook her head slowly, frowning at the screen. "Unfortunately, nothing. Last my scanners reported they were was somewhere in deep China. where of course we don't have any Centers. So we'll just have to wait until they show up at a town or... not." I smiled when I saw she was quickly encrypting the data coming in from the many satellites, which jumbled the data around.

Which, of course, they're not. Only the three of us knew that the last clones on this planet were the ones buried in the field at Caitlin's ranch.

An hour later, a message popped up on Caitlin's screen that said, _The Center is closing for the night. Please shut your computer down and exit the building._

"Oh, darn," she mumbled. "No more work until Monday!" She slipped a small circular device into her pocket, and I leapt up and followed her out. We passed a man named Lee Rutherford, and we stopped walking and bowed our heads respectfully. He wasn't from Earth, and he was a decorated General in the Separatist Army. He was also Caitlin's boss. She said, "Good night, sir."

He merely grunted, and continued walking. I rolled my eyes and we left for the Jeep.

When we got back to the ranch, Natalie was sitting on the couch in her pj's, munching on popcorn and watching with avid attention, the news from the three new protests and riots that had broken out in the last hour.

"If it keeps up like this, the world will be Seppie-free by morning." She said as a greeting, smiling widely.

"Let's hope so. Otherwise I might never sleep again." I said. "Caitlin _loves_ to work late, and quite frankly it is wearing me down."

Caitlin winked and went upstairs to change, handing me the device first. I sat down, took out the holoprojector, and clipped it into the port. Immediately, data started streaming from here to the Republic command ships. Once each ship successfully downloaded the data, the holoprojector would beep and a little light would appear. Over two hundred ships received the data each day.

I smiled to myself, proud of our little group. Earth will cleanse itself from the Separatists and the Republic just might win the war. Not to mention the fact that we're helping unite the world over one cause, with the majority of the citizens agreeing on the same thing.

From school, I've learned that once a country, city, or even political party unites over something they are passionate about, chances are they'll get what they want.

The projector beeped one last time and went blank. As I was taking the chip out, hurried banging came from the front door. I froze, Natalie froze, and Caitlin, who was coming down the stairs, froze.

Without another word, I slipped the projector and chip to Natalie, took a breath and opened the door. As soon as I saw who it was, my eyes widened and a numbing terror took over me. It was none other than Count Dooku himself, with a cloaked and hooded person standing behind him.

"Maureen Samuels, Natalie Koch, and Caitlin Monroe, you are under arrest for betraying the the Confederacy of Independent Systems." Before I could shriek, or even defend myself, he grabbed me by the throat, and threw me backwards. I hit the wall hard, and the last thing I saw was his apprentice draw two blood-red lightsabers from her cloak. Then everything went dark.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**MINDSPRING- So, you remember how I promised I would never do a double POV chapter again? Yeah, whoops ^^; This chapter, however, needed it. Otherwise it would have been blah. I just got done with school, so hopefully updates won't take as long as this one... Please enjoy, and don't forget to REVIEW! :) Kaythxbai.**

-Captain Rex-

"_I'm really scared, Rex... I just know they're going to find us. I just _know _it." _Caitlin's face disappeared in her hands, and only the sound of her sobs hinted how upset she was over the flickering of the holorcron. I was sitting in my quarters, replaying and replaying the last conversation we had had, before...

Before she was taken.

I had been in the mess with Cody and a few other men when my personal holocron had started beeping like mad. Thinking it was another report, I had set it on the table and waited. When it had continued beeping, like a bomb, without a break, Cody had said hoarsely, in quiet disbelief, "The emergency signal." Then we knew it had finally happened.

I sighed and put my own face in my hands, mirroring her moves exactly. I didn't move when the holocron repeated what I had said: _"Don't worry. Nothing will happen. And if it does, I'll be there. A-S-A-P."_

The holocron flickered as Caitlin brought her head up, and giggled at my pathetic attempt to speak like she and her friends did. She wiped her eyes, and whispered, _"I believe it."_ Her eyes drilled into my skull, as if she knew it wouldn't be possible. And accepted it. And cue the painful clenching of my stomach. Every single time I watched the review tape, it clenched upon itself and refused to relax for hours.

She shouldn't have believed it. _I_ shouldn't have said it. Now she was sitting in some forsaken jail cell, waiting for me- and I couldn't leave. Because I was a clone.

Anger roared up in me like it never had before. I had to fight the urge to start punching the walls and destroying the room. My fists clenched together automatically and I gritted my teeth. Never, not even in battle, had I felt this strong an emotion. I was furious at myself, furious at the Kaminoans- hell, I was furious at the Jedi for not allowing me to be my own person.

I heard a knock and immediately straightened myself out. I turned to see Cody entering my room and flipping the lights on. I stood at attention, and waited for him to speak.

He sat down on the cot and said, "At ease, Rex." I relaxed and sat next to him, waiting for him to speak. It was nearly three in the morning, standard time, and I had thought I was the only one awake. Finally, Cody said, "Listen, Rex, you and a couple of the other guys have been acting weird lately. I don't know why, but it's messing everyone up. So I have no choice but to ask you to take a little vacation to your head back on straight. We need men who can focus, and that means you, Rex." He paused, grinned wickedly, and continued slyly, "I hear that that new planet- what is it called? Earth?- is pretty nice this time of year."

I smiled, and said quietly, "Thank you, Cody."

He stood and started walking to the door. He turned, and said, "I've already cleared it with the Jedi. Kind of. Ahsoka's going to cover up for you, and so will your brothers. The others are already down in the hanger. Oh, and try to make it quick. No distractions." He chuckled to himself and left.

I raised my eyebrows and shook my head, laughing as well. I stood, put on my armor (I had been in my skins) and picked up my gun from its spot on my table. I turned it over in my hands, trying to come up with a reasonably logical plan for getting Caitlin, Maureen, and Natalie off of their sick planet.

Unfortunately, I could think of nothing. I smiled grimly and put on my helmet. _A General Skywalker plan it is, then._

_

* * *

~Caitlin~_

_Almost an entire week... six days... alone..._

I sat on the wire cot that was supposed to serve as bed, with my elbows on my knees and my head between my legs. I had never felt so... _beat _before. Not just psychically, but emotionally and mentally as well. Blood dripped down my nose and onto the stone floor. I watched it explode and spread, creating a gruesome painting on the rubble florr. I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning back on the cot. Everywhere ached; my head, my arms, my legs, even my stomach.

It was freezing in this little cell with blank, bare walls and dim light coming from one tiny, cracked window. I had no idea where I was. As soon as Maureen had opened the door at the ranch and we heard Count Dooku's voice, I realized we only had seconds to warn the Republic. I grabbed the holoprojector out of my pocket and punched in the code for emergency.

And just in time, too. Not one second after I had finished, Maureen had flown from the door and landed unconscious on the floor. Ventress followed her, with her lightsabers out. She had choked both Nat and I until we lost consciousness, and now, here I am. All alone.

I leaned back and groaned, turning my head so the blood wouldn't drip into my mouth. I stared at the ceiling, closed my eyes, and escaped to my mind.

Oh, God. Rex...

Would he come? _Could_ he come get us? I doubted it, because one of the very first things he had told me was that clones were 'made' to follow orders. But when I had told him my fears, he seemed so determined...

I mentally shook myself. _This is not about me. This is about Earth, and the Republic. I can't let... feelings get in the way..._

I brought my hands to face and started to cry, softly. I couldn't let the guards hear me, otherwise who knew what they'd do to me? The cot was shaking beneath me, so I sniffed and slowly sat back up.

The interrogators had already tried to talk, bribe, coerce, and beat information out of me, but I had- so far- steadfastly stood my ground. I didn't know how much longer I could last; I'm not a very strong person to begin with.

Tears mixed with blood, and as I tried to wipe the nasty mixture away from my face, the cell suddenly shook like an earthquake. The bars rattled and rocks and dust fell to the floor, settling in a big cloud. I froze, a hand to my face, and waited.

Thirty seconds later, it happened again. I stumbled my way over to the window and looked out through the cracks. The night was calm, clear, and still.

_What the hell is going on?_

The cell shook more violently this time, and continued for about two minutes before stopping. I stood still, not wanting to move for fear of triggering something else. I could hear the other inmates screeching down the hall, rattling the bars, and the guards trying to keep order. Several ran by my cell, with guns held in a ready position. They disappeared into the darkness, and I could only hear their footsteps pounding down the stone steps.

The other inmates were making such a racket I couldn't hear anything else for ten minutes. The guards on duty had given up with civil responses, and were now brandishing their guns as well. I sat down on my cot again, and waited.

Suddenly, I heard a fight break out from down the hall. I stayed still, though. I hated seeing people fight. The inmates were cheering wildly, shaking the bars, absorbing the cruelty with an almost lust-like passion.

I frowned and turned my head towards the wall. I heard pounding footsteps again, this time much closer to where I was. And I heard the calm voice of a clone trooper say to the guard, "If you don't want a bullet through your head, you had better open that cell, right now."

I whipped my head back around and stared as the clone and the guard rounded the corner, stepping into the light. My face broke into a huge smile, even though it hurt like crazy. My heart pounded like a drum as I stared at him, my knees almost buckling. Rex had his gun to the guard's head, and as she scrambled to get the key I stepped up to the gates. I couldn't see his face because of his helmet, but his head was turned towards me.

Finally the guard managed to unlock the cell. Rex shoved her in, grabbed my hand, and shut the gate behind me. I turned my head to see the guard looking out of the cell, eyes gleaming with anger. I gave her a little wave before Rex rounded a corner and she vanished from my sight.

Rex suddenly stopped. I skidded to a halt before I ran into his back. He looked around cautiously and said, "Alright, this is were we are meeting the others before we have to get out of here." He turned to face me, taking off his helmet. His eyes were fixed on me when he asked, "Are you all right?"

It was that sentence that practically broke me. I looked down, wringing my hands together, as I said, "I... I.. I really don't know." I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to let the tears fall. _Not in front of him!_ I begged._ Please, we both need to focus! _Yet without meaning to, I put my face in my hands.

I felt his arms envelop me, one going around my waist, the other around my shoulders. He leaned down towards my ear and whispered softly, "It's all right, I'm here. I told you I would be." I didn't say anything. Instead I threw my arms around his neck and I started to cry softly. His armor was uncomfortable, but I didn't care. It was Rex.

"You're too young for this. You shouldn't have to do this," he whispered again. I shook my head and whispered hoarsely, "I had too."

He walked me over to a chair and sat me down in it. He crouched in front of my, took my hands in his, and he let me cry.

He took something out of his utility pack and handed me a cloth. I took it and started to wipe my face clean. He smiled when I finally brought my eyes to his, and I laughed a little. Right now, I didn't care about anything. Except the fact that Rex and I were back together again.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**MINDSPRING- This chapter popped up rather fast, if I might say so! Sorry in advance it's so long, but I really felt that all of it was necessary. Please enjoy, and review!**

* * *

~Caitlin

The sounds of pounding feet coming from down the hallway forced me to open my eyes. Rex slowly stood from where he had been crouching, looked down at me with a small smile and put his helmet back on. He offered me his hand and I took it, rising slowly to meet the others.

I had expected to see Natalie and Maureen no worse off, and no better off, than I was- beaten, ragged, but still with a fighting spirit. What I saw nearly shattered me again. I felt my legs turn to jelly as they came into view. Rex steadied me with a hand around my waist.

Both of my best friends were being carried the men, Natalie nothing more than a small child asleep in the arms of one and Maureen riding piggyback on another. Both were unconscious, and both were horribly pale, with huge gashes on their bodies. Blood was congealing at the macabre wounds, and every so often, when their 'carriers' moved to sharply, they weakly cried out, but not once opening their eyes.

When the group came into the lobby, one of men who wasn't holding them went straight to Rex and reported, "They're not doing so well, sir. I just did a quick check, but I can easily see that both are very sick, plus they're suffering from an extreme loss of blood. Among other things." He straightened up, while the other gently placed Maureen and Natalie down.

"How long do they have?" He asked, in a matter of fact tone.

"A day at the most. They need medical attention now, but I can't do much without a bacta tank."

Rex nodded, and then addressed the group as a whole, "Let's get moving! We need to be out of this system in 3 hours! Take the speeders back to the ship, but split up! Veber, you take Maureen; Link, take Natalie. Be careful! Let's move!"

Veber and Link both knelt at the sides of my friends as the others raced outside. Rex didn't need to say who I was going with. He looked at me again and said, so softly that only I could hear, "Be prepared. The world out there is... different now." I nodded; I seemed to have lost the ability to speak. He released my hand, took out his two blaster pistols, and we ran outside.

He was right. I didn't recognize my home at all. Fires were raging everywhere; the old buildings in this area wouldn't last very long, that I knew right away. I looked up and saw hundreds upon thousands of Separatist planes dropping bomb after bomb after bomb onto the city. My mind was so dead, I couldn't figure out why they were doing it. I grabbed Rex's hand and held on tight, with both hands, when one of the buildings collapsed in a fiery ball of heat and dust. It blew hotly onto my face, so I ducked behind Rex to avoid it.

My shirt, torn and bloodied, was sticking to my back while my hair hung limply in a ponytail. I turned to face the building that had served as the prison while we sprinted away. If I had had the energy, I would have gone back and freed the other inmates. No one deserved to die that way.

However, I was so weak it took all of my strength just to hold on to Rex as he ran across the deserted streets, dodging the flames as they lapped up all of the old wood. My breathing was heavy, and it was the only thing I could hear.

I think that is what terrified me the most. Not the explosions, or the heat, or the falling bombs. It was the fact that there was no one else around. No screams. No cries of pain, or loss. Just the whoosh of the fires and the whistles of the bombs. No people at all.

Briefly I wondered where they all were. But my thoughts were cut short when a window exploded right next to me. I let go of Rex and dropped to the ground, covering my neck with my hands as glass flew past me. I felt a piece of it rip through my shoulder, and then the fire followed.

I began to wheeze as the smoke entered my lungs, and I couldn't see anything. Smoke was filling my lungs and eyes as I struggled to stand. I coughed violently again and covered my mouth with my ragged shirt, and lunged forward. "Rex! REX!" I weakly cried out, stumbling forward again. I started to cough more and more, and I dropped to my knees again. "REX!" I yelled, inhaling a big mouthful of dust.

Next thing I knew, he was right next to me, picking me up as gently and as quickly as he could. "Hold on!" he yelled as another window shattered from the heat. I threw my arms around his neck and closed my eyes as he started to run.

He was so strong- he carried me for at least five minutes before setting me down. I looked around, trying to place in my mind where we were. We hadn't gone very far, obviously, but I was so disoriented I couldn't figure it out.

I leaned against the brick wall of a building that somehow managed to stay standing while Rex ducked in the alley to get the speeder. I put my left hand over the glass wound. It burned like nothing else had, so I knew the shard was still in my shoulder, probably fairly deep. I brought my hand back, stared at the blood for a few seconds, and then wiped it off on the pavement.

I stood when I heard some sort of engine start; assuming it was the speeder, I peeked my head around the corner and saw Rex piloting some sort of motorcycle/boat thing. He brought it out into the street and waved to me, saying, "C'mon!"

Grinning, I stepped forward and up to the vehicle. He took my hand and helped me up. I asked, "So was anyone else there?" I started to blush a little when I realized I would have to hold onto him around the waist. I hesitantly wrapped my arms around him, my heart racing the entire time.

He paused a little, then shook his head and replied gruffly, "No. All the speeders were gone."

"Oh. Well that's good news." Rex laughed without humor and said darkly, "That means everyone made it and they're on the way to the ship, or they all died."

I sighed and said, "So encouraging. Let's get out of here, please." He nodded and said, "My pleasure." He gunned the throttle and we shot off.

As we passed burning buildings and empty streets, I felt something inside me break. It wasn't my heart, that I was all too aware off. It was more of like my hope for humanity. For my planet. My eyes stung with tears and I huddled even closer to Rex, trying to block out my pain. This was something out of one of my worst nightmares, the only difference was I had Rex guiding me out.

We had just reached the city limits when I heard something behind us. It sounded like another speeder, so I turned my head to look, thinking it was the others and we had finally regrouped. What I saw was definitely not friendlies.

Five droids on speeders were tailing us. I watched them, not really absorbing what they were. It was as if every single cell in my body was numb. Before I could warn Rex, they started to fire. I shrieked as Rex turned the speeder sharply to avoid the raining debris of one of the shots. As he rightened it, I had a sudden, crazy thought.

Slowly, I reached for one of Rex's pistols in the holster. I felt the cold metal weapon in my hand, and, squeezing my eyes shut, I found the grip and dragged it out. Rex noticed it, I'm sure, but he didn't say anything as he was concentrated on outrunning the droids and avoiding their blasters.

Adjusting my grip around him with my left arm for balance, I turned, right arm outstretched, and I aimed at one of the droids. The countryside was zipping by, the wind hot on my skin and ashes flying with it. My hair was flying all over the place. I couldn't tell how fast we were going, which was probably all for the better. I most likely wouldn't have had the guts to do this.

I pulled the trigger once, twice, three times. The third shot hit one speeder, which caused it to start smoking a bit. However, it was still flying at us, the droids intent on killing us. "Aim for their power tanks! It's the huge round thing underneath the speeder! " Rex yelled back at me, as he dodged a burning tree that had fallen on the street. Ashes rained down on us. I grimaced as some burned into my skin.

I bit my lip hard. _This is so insane, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!_ I aimed the blaster pistol again and shot three times. This time, one of the shots hit the droids. As it fell off, it yanked the controls hard left and crashed into another speeder, which immediately exploded. I turned away from the explosion, and said to Rex, "I got two!"

"Great job! Now get the other three!" I rolled my eyes and faced the droids again. Now that I sort of had the hang of aiming for the specific tank, I launched one poor droid off fairly easily. It hit a building and exploded. I apologized mentally, cringing.

_Three down, two to go,_ I thought, gritting my teeth. I shot like a mad woman at them, and they shot furiously back. I heard Rex calling for backup as we narrowly dodged yet another collapsing building. Luckily, it got one droid, so we were down to the last survivor.

As if in a dream, I heard a sharp crack, a hiss, and then a low rumbling. I froze, holding the pistol up as I looked around. My stomach dropped when I looked down. That droid must have learned something from us, because it had hit _our_ power tank. I started shooting back, in a desperate attempt to end it. "Rex! We're hit!" I yelled at him. He yelled back, "And it's still after us?"

"Yes," I replied, a thickness in my voice as I placed his pistol back into the holster. I put my other arm around him again and closed my eyes. I started to pray under my breath.

"Hold on!" For a split second I had no idea what he was talking about. And then, as the speeder started to tilt dangerously from side to side, I suddenly understood. I held on as tightly as I could when it finally lost it's center of balance. In one single, swift motion, Rex jammed the controls, grabbed my arms, titled to the left again, and, as we fell off, kicked the speeder back. Right before we hit, I ducked my head as low as I could.

We hit hard, and the resulting shock made me let go of Rex. Dirt flew and grass was torn up as I landed. I was about to sit back up when Rex flew over to me from where he had landed a few feet away and pinned me down with his body. His arms were wrapped around my head, creating a shield. We laid there until I head what he was protecting me from; the speeder we had just bailed off of flew back and hit the droid squarely, causing a huge explosion. Metal and flaming pieces rained down, but nothing touched me.

A minute passed, then two. Finally, Rex sat up and took my hand, helping me up. I smiled shyly and turned to look at the remnants of the droid and our speeder. Small fires were still burning, but other than that, there was no movement.

I turned to face him again and grinned a bit wider this time. He positioned himself so that his arms were resting on his knees. I sat crossed legged in front of him. He took his helmet off and smiled back at me, "Nice shootin'."

I burst out laughing and said, "You weren't too bad of a pilot yourself." He grinned and replied, "I try. We're not actually too far from the rendevous point, so we should be out of here soon." Rex's face darkened and the smile fell when he saw my various cuts and scrapes. "How are you feeling, Caitlin?"

I shrugged and murmured, "I would really like to take a bath." Now it was his turn to burst out laughing. This will sound cheesy, but the sound of it made me feel... safer. A lot safer. I lowered my head and drew a trail in the dust, my heart fluttering like mad.

Not two minutes later, we heard the sounds of the ship as it flew low over the ground. I had lost quite a lot of blood, so everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Rex stood to silently watch our rescue ship arrive. It was a pretty big ship; it looked to be the same one that had gotten the men from the ranch earlier. When it landed, a single ramp extended and Rex helped me on. I was rushed to the medical wing on a stretcher while Rex went to the command deck.

As I sat on a cot, a medical droid taking my readings and Natalie and Maureen both unconscious on cots next to me, I watched as we took off from the planet I had called home.

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**MINDSPRING- I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to click the yellow speech bubble right there to leave a review! Thanks~ ^^**


	16. Chapter Fifteen

_-Rex-_

"Very good. As we move onto the next set of medical protocol, feel free to stop at any time if you feel dizzy or weak. Next protocol: Left hand, set one. Fingers to thumb. Begin." The medical droid observing the recovery of the girls was facing them and demonstrating what he wanted to see. Maureen, Natalie, and Caitlin were all sitting across from the droid on a cot, staring at it with glazed eyes and copying his movements. They were wearing the standard medical robes, with a change of clothes for each on another cot.

I had just received orders from the Jedi Temple to bring the girls there, for an 'examination'. Based on their looks right now, they were pretty much through with examinations. (Each had had extensive nerve damage in their hands, so surgery was necessary for proper recovery.) I took my helmet off and went to speak to one of the clones on duty, Jek.

"How much longer? General Skywalker just messaged me and said to get a move on."

He walked over to one of the many beeping machines and pressed a few buttons. "Not much longer, sir. Their recovery is going smoothly." I nodded and turned back to face them. Caitlin noticed me first and gave me a small smile, which I returned. She sighed and rolled her eyes at the droid. I shrugged and leaned against the wall, my helmet under my arm. She laughed, hiding it with a cough.

Finally, after five minutes, the droid told them they were finished. Without another word, they leapt off of the cot and walked towards me. "Hello, Captain!" Natalie greeted me first. "What are we doing today? Blowing up a ship? Rescuing citizens?" This had become a running joke with them. Every morning, this is how I was greeted.

I smiled and said, "No, you three are going to the capital of the Republic to meet the Jedi Council."

Maureen laughed and said, "That works. That works fine."

"Good. Now get changed and go up to the Command Deck. Jek will show you the way," I said, gesturing to the clone on duty.

They nodded and walked towards the cot. I turned and left for Command. This ship wasn't the biggest one we had, but it certainly wasn't the smallest. Each Republic frigate is equipped with at least ten medium sized ships, for bringing in supplies to ground troops and citizens. Ahsoka had somehow nabbed us one of the larger ones for this mission, and during our last holocron meeting earlier this morning she had said Skywalker wasn't too angry. He had said he understood perfectly.

That had been bothering me. Understood what, exactly? The need for our group to rescue our friends and caretakers? Or how I felt about Caitlin? I put it aside for now; there were more pressing matters to deal with.

Like how we had to travel through Separatist-infested space to get to Coruscant the quickest. And that Caitlin, Maureen, and Natalie were wanted, dead or alive, by the Seps.

Just an average day in the life of a clone.

When I got to the deck, I found that the meeting had already begun. I cursed silently, but I slid into my spot next to Link. He looked over at me, then leaned in and whispered, "Nothing's really happening, they're debating whether or not to fight for Earth."

I looked at him in disbelief. Nothing's really happening, eh? Just deciding whether or not to let billions of people die under the rule of our sworn enemy. I took a deep breath and focused on the current conversation, between Ahsoka, Generals Kenobi, Skywalker, and Windu. I could see Cody standing at attention in the background behind General Kenobi, and I vaguely wondered how long he had been standing there like that.

"The trouble about this planet is that it is lacking in even the most basic of technology, and they have no means of interspace travel." General Windu was saying. "Even Tatooine and Ryloth have that advantage."

"It's not like we can't supply them with the technology, Master," General Skywalker said dismissively, crossing his arms. General Kenobi started to stroke his beard.

"Masters, if I may?" Ahsoka said quietly, waiting for permission. Windu nodded and gave her the floor. She continued, "I have been researching this planet, and from what little readouts I've gotten, it seems to be that it is extremely mineral-rich. Every known metal is available in some mass quantity, on average over two hundred clicks of each. The fauna and flora is also extremely diverse, on the same level of Naboo and Alderan." She walked forward and put a chip into the holocron. Images of the different plant and animal life began to flash as she continued, "It's people are extremely diverse. A little self-centered, but in general the human race on Earth has good intentions.

"Earth is a beautiful place, Masters. It has culture, history, traditions… It's really no different from any system here, besides the fact that they are behind in the technology area. The reason they're so varied within one system is that they had to do what we did with a thousand systems in only one. I think, after reading a rough description on most of the systems in the Republic, it is safe to say that Earth is one of the most diverse systems out there."

I was impressed. Everyone else was, too. General Skywalker smiled at her and said, "Good work, Snips." He looked back at the group and said, "So, Master Windu? What's the plan? Abandon or save?" We all looked towards him, waiting.

Finally, he sighed and said, "I guess I really don't have a choice. Captain Rex!" I snapped to attention and said, "Yessir?"

"As soon as the girls are on Coruscant, I'm giving the all-out signal for a raid on Earth to free it of the Separatists. Get them here as fast as you can."

I saluted him as I replied, "Yessir!" He nodded once, unsmiling, and shut down. As his image flicked off, I turned to the others and said, "They should be up any minute, sirs."

Kenobi nodded and turned to Skywalker. While they discussed something else, I turned to Ahsoka and said, "Thanks, kid."

She smirked and said, "No problem. I want to meet them face to face. And for that to happen, they have to be alive. I'm really curious about Earth now that I've done some basic research on it."

I grinned in the safety of my helmet, thinking when Caitlin and I tried to start extinguishing our curiosity about each other's lives. "There's a lot to learn about it. I'd be ready to sit for a while."

She raised her brows but did not comment, because at that moment, Caitlin and the others walked in. I smiled at Caitlin, and gestured them forward. They stepped into the holoprojector's views, and smiled sheepishly when the Generals and Commander looked at them.

General Kenobi spoke first. "Welcome! I am Jedi Master Kenobi, and this is Anakin Skywalker. His Padawan is Ahsoka Tano." As the greetings went around, I slipped the information disk into the pad and waited for General Skywalker to begin giving them the rundown.

"So, as you will be pleased to learn, we have just been granted permission to start a Republic campaign in your system. I was surprised that it went through so fast, but that is not important. You have started a rebellion that will hopefully regain control of your planet." He looked towards me, and I stepped up.

"We've been monitoring the situation there for the last two days. We've found out several things," I began, pushing a button that brought up an image I had found on one of the system's newscasts. "It seems you three have become symbols of the rebellion- they are calling you 'The Butterflies'." The image was a poster that depicted the three girls, each standing in a heroic pose and looking of into the distance. Words were scribbled on the edges, words that I couldn't read. "Another thing- it seems that Count Dooku had been waiting for a chance to begin the invasion. That's why the bombs were going off after we got you from prison."

General Kenobi continued, "After your rescue, he ordered three things to happen: one, to kill several world leaders and thereby gain control of your political system even further; two, a full-scale massacre throughout the world; and three, issue a warrant for your arrests." I glanced over at the girls; they looked thoroughly shocked and slightly horrified. Caitlin had started to bit her lip, Natalie had a hand over her mouth and one over her heart, and Maureen was just standing there, jaw thrust out and a defiant glint in her eye.

General Skywalker finished, "So that is why we are bringing you to our Capitol- for your and your system's safety."

It was a lot to take in. The look on Caitlin's face was confused, but she took a breath and looked up at Kenobi. "What do we need to do?"

"For now? Stay alive." He crossed his arms and said, "As grim as it sounds, this is a very serious situation, and we cannot take any risks."

I turned to them quickly and said, "If the symbols of freedom, you three, are captured or killed, then the system will have basically lost. It needed motivation, you gave the people of your planet just that. Now, it would be best to get far away from the Separatists."

She nodded, but did not speak. Natalie and Maureen were looking down at the ground, when I noticed that they were holding hands, tightly. I realized that they had reached their limit, so I stepped forward, said, "Thank you, sirs. We shall arrive at Coruscant shortly." They all nodded and bowed. I shut the power down and turned to face them again. Their faces were sick with worry and fear. I hesitated; I wasn't trained to deal with the effects of war. Only war itself.

They stood facing me, waiting for me to speak and comfort them as they had comforted my men and me. I couldn't. I went through that sickening fear everyday; I had been trained for it and had come to expect it. They had been thrust into the middle of it all, at the most intense level of war, and they were lost.

I gestured them to follow me. I lead them back to the hospital wing. Natalie and Maureen walked in without a word and sat down on a cot, and held each other silently. I watched them for a moment before I turned to face Caitlin. She stared, then smiled sadly and went to Natalie and Maureen.

Not knowing what else to do, I turned from the room and left without saying anything. Once outside, I took of my helmet. I wiped my brow and sighed. _I should have done something to comfort them. Their situation just keeps getting worse and worse, and I should be telling them it'll all be okay. That's what... that's what friends do, they comfort. _I stopped and realized that I didn't know how to do that.

"Rex!" I turned and saw Caitlin coming out of the wing. She smiled as brightly as she could, and walked up to me. I smiled back and waited for her to say what she wanted to say. "I... I never really thanked you... for everything." She began shyly, glancing up at me and blushing. Her hair fell around her shoulders, and I ached to tell her that she looked...beautiful.

"Oh! Uh... No need. It was my duty to protect you." She smiled for real, hesitated for a moment, and then threw her arms around my neck. I froze, surprised."Thank you!" She whispered. She stepped back and smiled again before turning back to her room.

I was frozen to the floor for a few minutes. The thing that shook me out of the surprise was my com link beeping and Link yelling, "Separatist ships, Captain! Get up to the Command deck- AHH!" The com link went static. _And there goes the communication._

The ship shuddered violently, I put my helmet on, and I raced up to the the deck, hoping against hope that we weren't already doomed. But I somehow knew better.

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**MINDSPRING- Eh... This chapter felt clunky. Necessary, but really clunky. I couldn't find any way around it, but at least I got needed things situated.**

** Please review! I don't mean to sound rude, but if you read, please review!**


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**A/N- Oh, no, another two-fer! Be warned. Long chapter is loooong. Sorry in advance!**

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**_~Ahsoka~_**

I watched in horror as the SOS signal came in from the other ship. The message was scrambled and came through in choppy bits: _"...ambush... can't fight... send... once!" _The image blurred and cut out. I turned to face Anakin and said, "Well?"

He looked at me and sighed. "I'm sorry, Ahsoka. We can't risk it."

Anger flew up inside of me. "WHAT? Risk _what?_ Getting our butts kicked? Master, your _friend_ is out there! He needs your help! And you're just going to let him suffer and _die?_"

He stood up, eyes flashing in warning. "Cool it, Snips! I know it's hard, but it's our duty-"

"To protect the innocent! There are three innocent girls on that ship, Master! We need to do whatever it takes to get them- and _our friends_ out of there! I can't believe you would give up that easily!"

He was silent. I stood fuming, my fists clenched tightly. He rubbed his chin, and then he looked at me. A spark of determination caught in his eyes, and I smiled. I knew _that _ look. He glanced around, then grinned at me and whispered in a fake serious tone, "We leave at midnight." Then he left the room.

I grinned widely. I ran over to the holodeck and locked in the coordinates of the ship. "Hold on, Rex. We're coming."

I watched the data stream into the computer when a sudden thought struck me. _Why did the Captain feel so strongly about going back? Why not just hang his head and say how awful it was to lose the girls? What made him go back?_

I remembered seeing the fierce glint in his eyes the night he left. I hadn't thought much of it, mainly because it was so early in the morning. But now that I thought about it, I recalled Rex stealing up here in the dead of night, since his return from Earth.

I frowned, and ran my fingertips over the pad. It lit up to life, and I stared at it for a few seconds before I started to snoop around. _This is so wrong. I'm a Jedi. We don't do this kind of thing, right? I shouldn't be snooping- hey, what's this?_

I glanced around, making sure that no one was near. The deck I was on was deserted. I focused on the data streams, and hovered my palm over Rex's number. All the messages he had sent and received, on this pad and his private one, were listed. "All so... recent. And to the same number..." I murmured quietly. "What have you been up to, Rexy?"

All of the messages were locked, so I couldn't get into them. I stood straight, biting my lip. _There's gotta be a way in... Oh! His personal pad. Duh._

I shut the power off and turned on my heels, sprinting down the empty hallways. Soon I came to Rex's private quarters. I opened the door and looked inside. _Alright, Rex. Where is it?_

Hoping he didn't take it with him, and hoping no one came along and saw me digging through his stuff, I searched the room as quietly and as quickly as I could. I pushed the thought of how wrong this was into the back of my mind, focusing instead on my 'mission'.

I was about to give up when I saw a little crate pushed under his bed. Smiling, I bent down and pulled it out. It was a heavy-duty standard metal crate, ones that we give the men to keep whatever they want in them. I opened it gently, placing the lid on the ground. I sat cross-legged as I searched the meager contents.

An extra blaster, three ammo clips, the holoprojector, and... I frowned at the last item. It looked like... a piece of jewelry. I raised my eyebrows and said quietly, "Ah... ok then."

I picked it up and turned it over in my hands. It was a bracelet, made out of small interlocking chains were gold, and from them one charm hung. A gold heart, with three letters engraved in elegant writing on one side. I frowned. _What do they mean? _

After thinking it over for a few moments, I shrugged and put it back in the box as gently as I could. I lifted the projector out and set it on the floor in front of me. I found the messages and activated the oldest one, the first of many.

The image flickered onto the screen and my mouth dropped. _No way... it's that girl! From Earth!_

She smiled shly and greeted Rex, "Hi, Rex." I rolled my eyes at the meager greeting.

"Hello, Caitlin."_ Oh, Rex. Always the creative one._

She twisted a lock of her hair around one finger and said, looking down, "You know, it's really quiet here without you guys. We miss you all."

I heard Rex's laughter from the machine and shivered. _This is so wrong, I should stop! But... I can't..._

Guiltily, I watched all of his messages with Caitlin. By the third one, it was obvious that he and Caitlin felt the same way about each other. Just like Master and Senator Amidala. I took out the bracelet again and looked at it while I listened to the messages. It was hers. A token of her feelings.

I shivered again and turned the holocron off. I had seen all I needed to see to quench my curiosity. My questions answered, I put both the pad and the bracelet back in his box and shoved it under his bed. I ran out of his room and went straight to mine to get my feelings straightened out.

_

* * *

**~Catilin~**_

As the elevator brought me closer to my execution, I sighed and dropped my chin onto my chest, letting my scraggly hair fall across my face, thus hiding it from view. The droids on either side of me paid no attention. I could see flecks of light whenever we passed a floor, and every time I wondered which one Rex, or Natalie, or Maureen was on. I knew we were all going to be killed. I just didn't know when.

In my mind, I replay each moment, from the very first time we met, to the seconds right before we were cornered. Even now, I felt a blush rising heatedly and in my mind I cursed myself, yet again, for doing that to him. To them all. I had brought the fall of the 501st Legion.

Finally, the quiet elevator came to a smooth halt, in the very belly of this massive ship. I felt as if I had let my entire planet down, and we had had so much potential for the Republic, and I had changed all that. I would always be remembered, if I was going to be remembered at all, as the girl who caused the downfall of Earth before it had even had a chance to prove itself.

Like a movie, I rewound the tapes and let it all play again, and again, savoring each sound, touch, feeling, and movement. The droid behind me shoved me out into the bright light of the docking station with his gun. I grimaced; but my back was so covered in bruises and cuts already one more wouldn't change anything.

As we clanked right to the center of the 'crowd', I realized I could see right past the hundreds of droids, past the reptilian monster that had, for a short time, been the entire system's hero. The blue shield that protected us from the vacuum of space was thin enough to see through, and I could watch as the destroyed star fleet ships gently floated against a backdrop of stars. A grisly scene, one I would die with.

A wheezing sound snapped me back to the present. The huge thing, called General Grievous, stepped forward towards me and unsheathed one blue lightsaber, that made me think of the Generals I knew on the other side of this battle, Anakin and Obi-Wan. So he was going to do this the old fashioned way, a public beheading. I met his cold, yellow eyes, and did not falter when he brought the blade to my neck. Hundreds of fake eyes were on me, a small cleaning droid waiting next to us to clean up the mess. I held myself tall and proud.

I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.

A creaking sound suddenly filled the air as the ground shook violently. It sounded like metal scraping against metal. I shuddered at the sound and looked around, trying to discern where the sound was coming from. The droids were doing the same, turning their heads this way and that. I heard Grievous hiss madly and I felt his cold metal claws wrap around my throat.

"What backup did you call?" He yelled, his face inches from mine. I wheezed and tried to pry them off my neck. He lifted me several feet in the air and spat, "Who did you contact?"

I tried to shake my head. Blackness was closing around my eyes. My lungs felt like they were about to explode. Tears streamed down my face as I struggled against the cold grip. My body started to seize up as it fought against the lack of air.

He yelled at me in frustration and tossed me aside into the droids. I crashed into them, sputtering for breath. My throat felt like it was on fire as I gasped for air. I moved aside the droid pieces as I struggled to stand.

That's when I noticed that all of the droids were shut down. Not one of them was still activated; all of their eyes had been dimmed and they fell to the floor with a deafening crash. I stood rooted to the spot as I watched, my mouth open. _What the hell? I'm getting really sick of all of these surpises!_ I yelled in my mind.

General Grievous was annoyed as well. And unfortunately, I was the closest thing to him that he could chop up and not get in trouble for. I stared at him before I shrieked and ran the opposite way.

The way he ran was comletely terrifying. Not including the facts that my hands were still tied, I had no idea where I was going, and I was completely alone. Put those together, and you should understand how badly I wanted to throw up right then.

I gritted my teeth and ran into a hallway leading off from the hangar bay. Grievous's clanking footsteps followed right behind me, and so I continued running. _Not fair,_ I thought darkly,_ he's part robot and I'm not! He's gonna outlast me!_

I felt like giving up when I realized that. My friends had vanished, my planet was doomed, Rex was most likely dead, and I was trapped inside a madhouse of a space ship, running away from something scarier than that guy with the hockey mask.

Tears actually started to pour down my face and I bit my lip so hard it drew blood. _Oh, God, please! I don't wan't to die...!_

I turned a corner, and another, but still the clanking continued to follow me. In despair, I ran into an empty, dark room and hid. _He can't use the Force, so he won't be able to find me for a while. I hope._

I bumped into several dead droids and tumbled over them. I felt something in my wrist move, and then something snapped. I bit my shoulder to stop from crying out in pain as I hid, tucked under several... things.

I breathed as quietly as I possibly could when I heard his wheezes coming in through the doorway. He stopped, standing in the doorway, just a haunting silhouette of something that wasn't quite sentient, yet wasn't quite bestial. I shivered in my hiding spot, pressing my body into the wall and making myself smaller than I felt comfortable with.

He coughed, and then ignited two of his stolen sabers. I felt a pang in my heart when I thought about the Jedi who had died fighting this monster, and I prayed that they would help me escape. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" He taunted, spinning the blue and green sabers around. As they cut the dead droids, sparks flew and the hot metal melted. When he passed my spot, I crawled away on my hand and knees, taking delicate care to not hit anything that might make noise.

I made for the doorway, and when I reached it, I stood up and walked away, heart pounding. I didn't dare breathe yet, for who knows how well that thing could hear. I rounded a corner and saw ten battle droids sitting listless in their guard spots. I moved around them, holding my hurt wrist close to my body.

I still had no idea where I was going, and I still felt like I had to throw up. But I was safe- at least for the moment.

My breath came in hurried, uncontrollable puffs as I started to hyperventilate. What I had just done- and run away from- hit me so hard it actually felt like someone had sucker punched me in the gut. The tears started to stream down my face again as I struggled to keep walking.

It suddenly took out my ability to move any further. I sank down to the hard, metal floor, and leaned my head back on the wall. I hugged my knees to my chest and just stared at the opposite end of the hallway, waiting for Grievous to come through and kill me.

"Caitlin!" I heard three voices cry out, before I was fly-tackled by Maureen and Natalie. "You.. guys... are _alive_?" I choked out, trying to smile. Rex stood to the side, gathering weapons for us to use. "How the hell did you escape?"

Natalie helped me up while Maureen answered, "Do you mean, how did we escape our cells? Or how did we escape detection?"

I shrugged. "Both."

Natalie grinned and jabbed her thumb back at Rex, who was busy examining a mean-looking gun. "Ask him, hon. All I know is that I fell asleep after being told I would most likely be killed in the morning, and then the next thing I knew, Rex was shaking me awake." She shrugged. "I'm sure it's a fascinating story."

I looked at Rex. He looked beat and tired, but his eyes still had that determined glint that I had first seen at the ranch. The top half of his armor was burned, his kama was torn, and he now had three long scars on the side of his face. He carried his bruised and battered helmet under his arm. I walked up to him. "What did they do to you?" I asked softly, putting my hand over the scars.

He closed his eyes and put his hand over mine. He completely covered it. He answered, just as quietly, "Nothing I couldn't handle." He opened his eyes and stared at me. "But what did they do to you?" He frowned and ran his fingertips over some cuts on my cheeks and neck. I smiled sadly and said, "Nothing I couldn't handle."

He hesitate, then grinned and pulled me close to his chest. I laid my head against him and breathed in deeply as I put my own arms around him. I didn't want to break the hold. I completely forgot the amount of danger we were in, and how close General Grievous was to us.

Maureen didn't. "Hey, guys? I hate to be the wet sandwich here, but we should probably get moving."

I pulled away from Rex, but still stayed close. He said, blushing, "Our best best is to get down to the hangar bay and radio in for help."

With that, he handed each of us our own gun, taking two pistols for himself, and he ran to the bay.

It was strange, to say the least, running past all of the dead droids. We still had no idea what had happened; why had all of these machines suddenly stopped working? Rex had the idea that something from our atmosphere had crashed into the control center, or something. But it was all guesswork.

The dead eyes seemed to follow our every move, and it made me shiver when I realized the only other 'living' thing on this ship was the General.

I held my wrist up against my chest like an injured dog holds a paw up. Unfortunately, I had snapped something in my right wrist, so I was forced to wield the gun with my left. Needless to say, I hoped that I wouldn't have to try to fire it.

We reached the hangar bay without a bump. Rex walked up to the nearest ship, knocked out its security, and lowered the ramp. We were just about to enter the ship when we heard a terrific roar. I looked up to see General Grievous standing on one of the service ramps, looking down angrily at us. "Rex!" I called out, just as Grievous jumped down with a harrowing crash.

Rex turned and drew his stolen pistols. He began to fire as he backed up the ramp. Maureen, Natalie, and I knelt to the side of the ship and hugged each other fiercely. Rex slammed the button that controlled the entrance ramp and it rose up, just before Grievous could lope off his head.

We stood and walked into the cockpit. I raised my eyebrows at all of the buttons and levers and thingamajigs as Rex hurriedly got the ship moving and out of the hangar bay.

We stared at each other for about two seconds before we burst into laughter. "We did it! I can't believe we did it!" Natalie yelled, punching her fist in the air. Maureen was doing a little dance of her own creation, and I just bent down and kissed Rex on his cheek.

He coughed, embarrassed, as he piloted the ship away from the dead Separatist one. As we passed the destroyed Republic ship, it suddenly lit up to life. I jumped as the lights came on and it straightened out. I frowned at it, confused, until Rex laughed and pointed out that Anakin likes to play little tricks like that.

"_Rex! Man, it's good to see you're alright!"_

He brought his wrist comm up to his mouth and said, "With all thanks to you, General."

The voice at the other end of the line laughed and replied, _"Well, actually it was _Snips_' idea to destroy the Droid Command ship first. I would have just charged in."_

"Yeah, we were wondering about that." I realized suddenly that that meant _every. Single. Droid_ on Earth was dead. I fought the urge to jump and shout for joy.

The new voice was a girl's, one I recognized as Ahsoka's. _"Oh, good! So you got your girlfriend back?"_

I'm not sure who's face was more red, mine or Rex's. Maureen and Natalie just laughed their butts off. Rex didn't respond, and Ahsoka sighed and said, _"Alright, fine. Sorry, Rex. Just hurry up and get back on our side where you belong!"_

Rex replied with a weak, "Yes, ma'am." I covered my burning face with my hands as we docked. My head felt faint, I still felt a little sick, and my wrist was hurting like none other, but I was so happy I could have exploded. We were safe, Earth was safe, Rex was safe, and I was with him.

He was upset that his brothers had died for him when Grievous boarded our ship, as he should. The most comfort I could give him now was another peck on his cheek and to hold his hand. He looked at me sadly and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I felt guilt as well, guilt so strong that it clenched at my stomach. I said farewell to each of my brothers in my head, smiling sadly as I brought up their faces.

Soon, we walked down the exit ramp to be greeted by hundreds of troopers and the Jedi themselves. General Kenobi, General Skywalker, and Commander Tano. We smiled at them weakly and then were immediately shown the way to the hospital wing, where my wrist was fixed up fairly quickly.

Rex escorted us back to what would be our own rooms until we arrived on Coruscant. Natalie and Maureen disappeared inside to bathe, dress in clean, fresh clothes, and to fall asleep for at least twelve hours. Rex and I stayed outside of the room.

He smiled down at me and I smiled up at him. My heart was pounding madly, even though I was thoroughly exhausted. All I wanted to do was sleep, yet I stayed, because I knew something was going to happen soon.

I was right.

Rex suddenly bent down and pressed his lips firmly against mine. My heart fluttered around as I threw my arms around his neck and pressed back. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me closer to him. I smiled, my eyes closed, as the sparks flew. All I could think about was how good it felt to be in his arms. Under his protection.

"I love you, Rex." I breathed softly.

"I love you too, Caitlin."

* * *

**A/N- Oh, wow! I really can't believe it's over. *tear***

**Thank you so much times a million to everyone who reviewed this story! (I'm looking at you, Gamov!) I really hoped you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and don't worry. Caitlin and Rex shall return shortly. Epilogue, anyone?**

**Please leave me your final thoughts and comments. I love hearing from you guys, it's kind of like my odd little addiction. Ehehe... anyway...**

**Stay awesome! ~**_**Mindspring**_


	18. Epilogue

**A/N- A little epilogue, done in sort of script format. Rex and Caitlin, snuggling on the roof of some building in Coruscant. Just so everyone knows, I am planning to do a sequel to this story! I don't know when it'll come out, though. Sooner or later, it will. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

"Do you miss it?"

"Miss what?"

"Your home. Earth."

"... Yeah. A bit. My family especially."

"Mmm. _I_ miss the meals you made us."

"If you can find me things to cook with, I'll gladly make everything you want. I haven't cooked in forever."

"You know, you can always go back. The rebellion has finished, and your people are back in control."

"I know. It's safe now."

"I don't want you to go, though. It's so out of our way; General Skywalker would be breathing down my neck for wasting fuel if I were to visit."

"Then it's decided. I stay here."

"Good."

"Do _you_ miss it?"

"Yes. It was a nice... break from reality."

"If you could get away from the war, would you?"

…

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Not now. Right now, it's my duty. But... I don't want to miss..."

"Miss...?"

"This."

…

"Someone I knew told me that life isn't worth living if you don't have someone to come back to at the end of the day."

"He sounds like a smart guy."

"He was."

…

"When do you think the war will end?"

"I have no idea. Every time we get a small victory, the Seppies are already making their next move. It's really just non-stop fighting."

"Hm."

…

"I forgot to tell you how beautiful you look."

"I think you already have. Fives times now. But keep saying it, it sounds nice."

"You know I have no idea how to do... this, right?"

"No, you're doing a wonderful job. It was nice to go out and see, uh, another part of the city. Plus the place we ate at was very nice."

"I'm glad you liked it. Cody told me to go there."

"I'll have to thank him, it was so much fun."

"I'll tell him you liked it."

…

"Who knew a city could be so peaceful?"

"It sort of depends on which level of Coruscant your on. The lower levels are probably just starting to party."

"I like it up here, though. It's perfect."

…

…

"Rex?"

"Hm?"

"If you could... would you want to travel the galaxy? Not for war, I mean. To actually see it."

"Yeah, I would. That would be pretty incredible to do."

"I think so too."

"After the war... we can rent our own ship and see any place you want."

"Really?"

"Of course. Naboo is very pretty, you would like it. Alderaan too, and maybe Dantooine."

"That would be amazing! Let's do it."

"Ha ha, alright."

…

"You know, I'm really glad you crash landed on my farm."

"Me too. You know, I thought I had died and you were an angel at first."

"Aww, that's so sweet. I... I was a little scared of you at first. You were so serious all the time."

"I think I got over that."

"Yeah, you sure did."

…

"Thanks for rescuing us. Again."

"Of course. I told you I would be there as fast as I could."

"The news is abuzz with the rumors that a clone fell in love with one of his rescuers, you know."

"Yeah, I saw that. I think Veber did have a small crush on Natalie, though."

"He did? Oh, no wonder he was so quiet around her..."

…

"Rest in peace, guys."

"I never thanked you for giving my brothers a funeral. It was nice of you."

"It was the least I could do."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

…

"I could fall asleep here. It's so peaceful."

"Do you want me to take you back to your apartments?"

"No, not yet. Just a little while longer."

"Alright. I hope that Natalie and Maureen don't worry."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about them. I'm sure they're having plenty of fun with their activities."

…

"You really do look beautiful."


End file.
